Pastures New
by Da'khari
Summary: Sam's been offered a promotion, which means moving his family to Kenya for a while. He's the boss so everything should be plain sailing, but Kenya has something in store for the family - don't own Glee - Own this Fic
1. Chapter 1

The Promotion

Sam and Mercy and their two children moved to Kenya; considered to be one of the more influential countries in the financial market, when a new branch of the company Sam worked for; Try-bet, needed to be overseen. He had recently been promoted and later learned that part of the prize was to head up their overseas branch.

They had been married for 16 years, their twins Joseph and Naphtali aged 15, not really at the right age for the move, had uprooted everything in support of their Dad. Sam had somehow got the school to agree to video link teaching once a week over the next few years, he'd also gotten their school to send the work they needed to get through and was confident that with the support of their tutors they would be able to complete their schooling.

Jo was of the mind to be a Lawyer when he finished school if he didn't get into his first love with was Basketball, he was a stunner, he'd have any girl swooning over him, his piercing green eyes talked, they were like mirrors to his soul, he was a ball player, just like Dad with Dark brown straight hair that he liked to keep tied back most of the time but when he did let it out it was an unmanageable mound, his hands were like plates stuck on the end of his arms, made for the game, he'd inherited that cheeky smile from his Dad and his jealous streak was matching if not a notch above his Dad's when it came to his Mom or Nappi, as his sister was endearingly called.

Nappi was a softer version of Jo aspiring to sing just like her Mom she followed her Mom's career with gusto her dark brown hair was about three inches longer than Jo's and she had it out every opportunity she got, mainly because everyone saw some resemblance when she had it up. She was just like her Mom reincarnated, not as thickly built as Mercy, which Sam constantly thanks god for when she was younger, but now she was well into her teenage years she was filling out that way

The twins were twins in the purest of senses, they felt each other's pain, stuck up for each other in times of blame and even spoke to each other telepathically but in everything else Jo was definitely his Dad's twin and Nappi her Mom reincarnated

Mercy was doing her singing thing still, she'd nabbed her first Grammy 16 years ago, giving Sam the green card on the marriage thing, and had been busy non-stop until 4 years ago. When the children turned 11 she'd slowed down on everything, saying she was giving herself 5 years before she started back on the touring thing small scale, main reason being to get the children focused and spend some time with the family. Now in the 4th year, Sam had got this promotion, they'd have been stupid to pass it up, and with everything going right for them just now it was a no brainer.

She'd been in the studio getting her 12th album together, when Sam had announced his promotion and straight away she started pushing for the finish, thinking Sam was going to be based locally, and they'd finally get to spend some long awaited time together, then out the blue her producer announced he'd got what he needed for her new album, that she'd expected to spend another year completing, she wasn't ready she'd promised her family another year before touring, and she hadn't mentioned it to Sam or the children since this offer had come up for him.

They, all four, sat down to have some serious talk, Mercy did a lot of talking herself out of things, until one evening when Sam cornered her about it and she told him about the finished album but asked him, begged him even, not to let that cloud his decision. Sam sat quietly all through the many discussions, knowing his was the final decision which couldn't be made lightly and anything he said would influence everyone. For about three months the prospect of moving to Kenya was the live topic in the house. Mercy badgering for a decision on almost an hourly basis before giving up totally and banning the children from talking about it, then one random evening Sam made his mind up to take the job and then things seemed to go at warp speed, within 4 months they were on the plane moving their whole family to Kenya for 2 years. It was going to be difficult because Mercy's contract dictated that she start touring again after the album was complete which was sooner than they'd thought, and now they were in a strange country with no family or friends to fall back on.

Lucky for them the community spoke English so the language barrier wasn't an issue in most cases although they were keen to learn the native language for future reference. This was their second week in the country and the last box had just been unpacked as all four lay around on the couches, ceiling fans on, exhausted for not being able to keep the food down, manage the heat or block out the constant animal noises keeping them awake at night "Cesta" Mercy ordered which everyone welcomed for the next 4 hours .

"Mom why are you walking about?" Jo asked snappily for her waking him up

"Because you'll all want to eat when you wake up Mr" she said with attitude going to the kitchen door to look at him for his attitude, to see him smiling and pointing at his Dad

"Yeah, but why are you walking about, stay in the kitchen" he grinned waving his Mom to take the bate

"That better not be my wife your using that tone with boy" Sam said from under his hat currently covering his face as he lay resting

"No it's my Mom" he replied sitting up on the couch as Sam took his hat off his face

"What?" he asked loudly as he got up, to find a smiling Joe looking back at him

"Gets you every time Dad" he said laying back down as Sam looked towards the kitchen to see Mercy standing smiling at him

"You make it too easy for him" she giggled "He gets you every time"

"That's because he always uses you as his weapon" Sam said getting up, walking towards his wife "I missed you" he said giving her a kiss

"Please parents, it's traumatic for children to see their parents being intimate, it's a form of abuse" Naphtali squirmed from her couch

"I can't wait till you guys find love, in like 5 years time, I am so going to get you back" Sam said walking past Nappie and tickling her foot making her jump

"Dad" she whined as he laughed

"Now we've got the packing out the way can we do some family stuff tomorrow instead of just laying around?" Sam asked Mercy from across the room

"Sure like what do you have in mind?" Mercy asked

"Please don't say ch..." Jo started to say

"Church in the morning maybe and see what happens from there" Sam replied looking at Jo with a smile on his face "Mandatory stuff guys" he said smiling at Mercy "Your Grandparents will be going ballistic if they knew we weren't practising that with you guys" _'The children knew that was Dad's speak for Mom's leaving soon so tread carefully'_ Jo took the cue and exited the room for his bedroom

"Very true husband, get on the internet see what's close?" Mercy suggested as Nappie jumped up to do her favourite thing

"I'll do that Dad" she said, as he watched her fly past him going towards the desk

"Steady Sweetheart" he said steadying himself after she passed

"Time to get your stomach rocked" Mercy eventually shouted, everyone came to the table hungry but scared to eat for the repercussions "Come on just tuck in it looks good don't it?" she asked as everyone picked their folks up and started eating

"Actually it is nice Babe" Sam complimented with a smile

"Yep" the children said together smiling too

Dinner was soon over, belly's stable and everyone settled into their night thing the children conscious that they were bound to meet their first real natives at church in the morning. They lived in a small gated compound that had several of their father's business acquaintances from overseas living in it, all settling in, the houses were so far apart they'd go maybe a day without seeing anyone and the few natives that walked around were there to work in various homes or drive the company cars ferrying people back and forth. Sam didn't like the idea of it so he tried to walk everywhere, but the natives pulled him aside and stopped all that within the first two days, he had to be content with his walks venturing to the shops about a mile away attached to the complex. Mercy, during the two week settling in period, had set up the paperwork and computers for their schooling, brought all the things they needed which had been delivered and hired an overseer to ensure school hours were school hours. Sam sat quietly watching her nesting in her family, he knew this trip would be a big deal with them being so far away from everyone and the children had already been briefed on what to expect. Mercy needed to feel confident that everything was in hand because she was due to fly out on her mini tour promoting her new album that had hit the shelves running, in just over a week. They all knew the routine by now, so there was no point in arguing about it Church was going to happen because it was the entire family code which meant, Mom was off again sometime soon. Grandma never allowed even Grandpa to lift his feet off the ground without a prayer for safety being said, so they'd be on the phone soon for the hour long recital

"Where you going this time Mom?" Nappi asked as she scanned the internet for new trainers

"Europe some place called Austria, very cold I hear but the people are warm they say" she laughed "Why?" she asked looking at Naphtali for a response and got none "Nap" she shouted for her to hear as Naphtali turned startled

"What?" she asked agitated for being disturbed as she finally looked at her Mom "Sorry Mom I was just…"

"You were just about to get off that damn site" Mercy told her

"But Mom I was .."

"Just about to get off that site" Mercy warned her "And no you cannot buy those trainers"

"But.."

"Your ass" Mercy said, as Sam sat looking into his newspaper that he wasn't reading, but using it as a distraction, he didn't want to get called into that conversation, because as usual he'd become the bad guy, and they would be the best Mom daughter team ever, while he'd sit vexed for the rest of the night, he rolled his eyes as he played out the consequences in his head. Then he did it, as soon as it happened he closed his eyes for what was coming next, _why didn't I just carry on pretending to read the paper? Why did I have to go and flick the damn thing alerting them to my presence?_ He asked himself as the inevitable happened "Sam are you hearing this girl" Mercy asked him

"Yes babe, and I'm hearing you dealing with her, very well I might ... add" he smiled at her going back to his newspaper

"Really" Naphtali said before her Dad finished talking "Dad deal with something, you want him to get two newspapers out or something" she laughed

"It's been a while but I guess I could read two, if I was put in that position" he said to Mercy as she smiled back at him "And Nap, for your information, when your Mom tells me to jump, I jump, I don't ask how high" he smirked at her

"What does that even mean?" Naphtali asked, her hands wondering all over the place in frustration as she looked at her smiling Mom then turning back to the computer and clicking it off before getting up to go sit in her room

"Uncle Steve's calling in about half an hour" Sam shouted after her as she turned, while still walking, to acknowledge that she had heard him

"What's wrong with her?" Joseph walked past her asking

"Trainers" Mercy told him as Jo rolled his eyes

"Does that girl have anywhere to sleep in that room, she can only wear one pair at a time" he said fist bumping his Dad as he walked past to occupy the other couch "Touch the TV Mom" he said as he flopped down while Mercy stretched over and touched the TV "You know what I mean" he smiled the Evans smile at her

"Boy, even your Dad don't get away with that, so you better come correct"

"Mommy, please will you turn the TV on for me, Thank you" he smiled at her as she stretched over and turned it on smiling "With bells on" he smirked laying there looking like a carbon copy of his Dad with brown skin.

Sam had sat Jo down and coached him about looking out for his sister painted the worst case scenario there could be, and sat back and smiled at Jo being mega protective of his sister, butting in when he needed to. By 12 Jo understood what his Dad was guarding Nappi from, his hormones were raging, girls were on heat and his Dad was preaching celibacy, restraint, love, and all that crap into his ear. Jo sat back wondering if his Dad was actually a man growing up with the same influences as he was. All these females half dressed, if he was lucky, offering shit on plates and stuff; by 14 he had to do what he had to do so girls went down on him regular, and he knew how quick that could happen, no way was Nappi getting an inch with him and he wanted to be a baller when he grew up, no way was his life going to be prison, so that iron rod prevailed and seriously, he didn't give a shit what his parents told her she could do, if he said no that was the final word, because he was out there in that damn jungle with her.

Jo played the game, he was all sweetness and light in front of his parents but when he got the opportunity he was dog like every other 15 year old on the block, he was confident that if his Mom never saw that in him she'd love him forever. Nappi was straight down the line naïve, just like Mommy, it wasn't a way she'd planned on being but with her Mom away on a regular and Jo and Dad as her main caregivers she couldn't turn right too far let alone look left, they were on her, don't do that, don't talk to them straight to me after practice and stuff like that. It didn't help that she was a cheerleader at school, and her Dad's track record with them proceeded him, and her brother wasn't doing too bad following those footsteps either. There was just one rare moment just before they left for Kenya where Jo's friends brought drinks and they sat out on the field having a glass of something when Tony; his then best friend, gave her a drink or two she went a bit wild and kissed someone but boy did Jo go off, she didn't need to see that behaviour twice

The evening went by like any other Jo on his couch in control of the remote, Nappi at the computer looking at top of the range trainers initially then she's need the track suit to go with it then the socks then the... and the list always went on, then the sweet talk would come out, if she got Dad on his own she was half way to purchase as soon as she said Dad but if Mom got wind it took days to squeeze that magic word out and lots of chores. Sam and Mercy playing couch hop, they'd be sitting together the conversation would get out of hand and one of them would move, minutes later the other one would make their way to the couch the other had moved to and so the game went on. The nights always ending with vocal practice when Mom was about, bringing smiles to Jo and Nappi's faces as they lay in their beds, their world perfect yet again

 **Sunday**

Everyone was up and dressed for church as Mercy stood in the bedroom brushing down Sam's jacket as he fussed about how he looked and Mercy reminded him of how fine he was "Plus you got me on your arm" she sassed at him making him laugh

"Come on" Nappi shouted to everyone as she stood out on the veranda waiting "We're going to be late" she said all dressed in green from hat to shoes

"Come on" Sam said mimicking her as he walked past her and opened the car door for them to get in "Shoot" he said when his phone started ringing as he looked at Mercy and answered it "Yes" he said listening before closing his eyes and raising his head to the heavens

"It's started" Mercy said smiling at him "We'll drop you off on the way"

"I haven't even got time to change my suit" he said looking down at himself "Technically I start on Monday I should ignore this" he informed her

"You're the boss you have to set a precedence" she laughed as they stepped into the waiting car "You look fine" she smiled "As hell"

"Come in with me" he asked 10 minutes later as they stopped outside his new building, having only been in the building twice since his promotional process started, it was a bit daunting

"No how will that look, I'll come in with you tomorrow" Mercy said kissing him as she pushed him out the car door "I miss you already" she said smiling

"Hey clan, miss me" he called to the children

"Bye Dad miss you" they shouted in unison

Mercy went off to church with the children, they were well received and weary after 3 hours of solid church the children finally gave in "Mom come on even you think this is too much please, can we go?" Jo asked

"Hold on the choir are going to sing" she said fanning Jo off with the excitement of hearing some spiritual music, but it was still 15 minutes later before the Minister moved to the side and said something in their native tongue and the organ started playing. Mercy was horrified at the sound that came out of the 7 strong choir, so much so she had to fight with her inner self to stop the almighty laugh from leaving her mouth, Nappi had no such restraint she just let it rip as everyone turned to look at the new family sitting on the left hand side at the front of the congregation. "Sorry" Mercy turned to say as members gave strange looks. After that she felt obliged to sit through the other 90 minutes of the service and somehow apologise to the choir members or at least make Nappi apologise, so the end came and Mercy linked arms with Nappi and took her to where the Choir sat for her to officially apologise for her outburst.

"Excuse me Miss..."

"Mrs Madge" the elderly woman turned saying "I'm the leader of this choir" she told Mercy and Nappi

"Mrs Madge if you'll allow us, my daughter has something to say to you all" Mercy said looking at Madge for a response, which she visibly gave as Mercy looked at Nappi to offer her apology

"I'm truly sorry, for laughing while you were singing" Nappi said, Mercy didn't believe she was sincere, as young and old faces looked back at them

"Could you do better?" one of the older women asked, obviously getting the same un-genuine feel as Mercy

"I guess not" Nappi said looking at Jo and her Mom "But maybe my Mom could she's a singer" she quickly added as the light came on for her

"I sing R&B" Mercy quickly said looking at Nappi before looking back at the lady that asked

"But your roots are in gospel Mom" Nappi added as Mercy gave her the side eye, automatically shutting Nappi down

"I really haven't got the time, I'm on tour next week for a month after that we can maybe have this conversation again" she said ferrying the children out of the hall to be met by the Minister

"See you again Miss ….?" The Minister asked as they exited the hall

"Mrs Evans but please call me Mercy, my husband was on his way with us today, but he was called off to business" she smiled "Maybe next week"

"Welcome again Mrs Evans I look forward to seeing you again next week" he said holding her hand a while longer than he needed to

"Mom" Jo called, making her look round for him "Come on" he said when she finally found him standing not far from the car, with Nappi standing next to him, waiting to go

"Next week maybe" Mercy turned to the Minister saying before pulling her hand away and joining the children at the car

"What was he doing coming on to you like that?" Jo asked as they got in the car

"Like what? We were having a conversation" she told him smiling at the Sam in him, before catching Nappi's stare and holding it with her screwed up face on for a while, telling her she wasn't out the woods just yet. All three piled out the car with attitude and walked into the house going in three different directions

 **Back home**

"How did it go?" Sam asked as they piled into the house, Jo's face set in pissed mode, Nappi's face wearing her familiar 'don't' look and Mercy itching to talk "Okay time out" he shouted making them all stop and find seats "What's up clan?" he asked "When I left everything was fine what happened? He asked again

"This is your one chance to admit guilt girl and give a heartfelt apology" Mercy warned

Nappi looked at her Dad begging him to deflect, she so didn't want to be the centre of her Mom's mad, as his eyes hurried her on with her apology before Mercy got to stage two "I laughed at the choir, full out laughed in the middle of church, and when I was saying sorry I sort of offered Mom's services to help the choir without asking her first, I'm really sorry Mom, I mean really sorry" she turned to Mercy saying her Dad's lost puppy face coming into play, looking past her Mom and seeing the smile on her Dad's face telling her she'd deflected.

"Okay but please don't let that happen again, it puts me in a very difficult situation when I have to say no" Nappi turned to exit the centre of the room making sure she signalled a thank you to her Dad on her spin round

"And you young Man?" Sam asked

"I just want to slap a Minister" Jo said looking up with a combination of his Dad's jealous and Mom's 'Oh no he did not' look on his face "That Man was all over Mom after church, I had to shout her to get her away from him, I didn't like it and I think I need to let him know that next time we go"

"What do you mean all over Mom?" Sam asked his jealous coming out as he spoke to Jo, and looked at Mercy

"He shook my hand and kept hold of it for a few seconds more than even I thought he should have, but I pulled away and he knows I'm married" Mercy butted in rolling her eyes at her two men

"He's a sleazy Minister Dad" Jo continued to say "We shouldn't go back there"

"Calm down son, we'll see next Sunday what we're dealing with" Sam informed him "I did lunch so come on lets eat and see what we can get in this afternoon, Mom's only got a few days then she's off for a while lets enjoy this and then deal with Sleazy Minister yeah?"

"Okay" Jo said reluctantly getting up and looking at his Mom sadly for trivialising what he'd seen, Sam saw the look and Mercy saw Sam see the look, rolling her eyes at the pair she went into the kitchen to go see what Sam had been up to

Lunch was fine and after their game of twister that afternoon and some shopping at the local gated shops, they were back home sitting pool side taking in the sun and being them, bedtime smiles returning as vocal training filled the house.

 **Monday**

Sam was up bright and early sorting his wife out as they got ready for his first day "How do I look?" he asked standing there casual but smart in his expensive designer jeans, t-shirt and plead shirt "I don't want to create the common business look, what does this say about me?" he asked as Mercy walked around him looking

"Fine ass" she said ready for more of the same, making him smile

"Stop" he giggled "Late on the first day is a really bad look"

"I thought you said the sight of me on any day was a good look?" she grinned at him

"Stop, seriously, I need to get to work, come on" he said pulling her hand

"Hold up" she said pulling her hand away from him "I need... Doesn't matter" she said following him out

"Morning" Sam shouted across to Nappi and Joe as he reached the kitchen

"Toast" Jo said pointing to the plate of toast they'd done with pots of jam, marmalade and butter on the side "Help yourself"

"Morning" Mercy said kissing both foreheads as she grabbed toast and buttered four slices giving Sam the first two as she did them "Come on, you're going to be late" she told him as she grabbed her bag and they left

"Bye" the twins shouted after them as they waved

"Ready?" Mercy asked as they reached their destination, giving Sam the once over before they left the car

"Ready" he replied stepping out of the car and opening the building door for Mercy to walk in

 **Work**

"Good Morning Mr Evans" was heard at almost every step as Sam smiled, replied and carried on to his office

"God that was daunting" he said as his backside hit the chair at his desk "I suppose I'll have to address them all at some point today" he gasped as Mercy stood looking at the view out the window

"Address" Mercy said impressed "I was going to ask you to addre..."

"Good Morning Mr Evans, I'm Megan your PA" she came into the office saying looking up after she'd spoken "Sorry I didn't know you had anyone in here" the tall, Brunette, with long legs and a dress that looked like she'd come straight from the night club to work, it was that short.

"Morning Megan, did you say?" he asked as he got up and walked towards her

"Yes Sir" she said raising an eyebrow as she looked at him from head to toe, noting the black woman standing at the window _'Why isn't she cleaning?'_ she thought but Mr Evans' voice caught her attention again

"I'm busy right now Megan but if you come back in say 30 minutes we can talk protocol, and please knock next time" he said shuffling her out the door

"You have a meeting with the Managers in 30 minutes Sir" she quickly said before the door shut and he locked it

"Hmmm" Mercy said before getting back to her conversation "As I was saying" she smiled "About addressing stuff" she said as he sat back in his chair, his eyebrow raising this time as she spoke "I thought we could maybe address the, what should I call it?" she said looking through the window for some inspiration "The virginity of this room" she said walking towards him finally grabbing his shirt and pulling him in, his hands wasted not time in getting to where they needed them to be

"You have no underwear on" he smiled as he searched her

"And you still have" she giggled

Some time later there was a knock at the door making Sam jump up just as he was all up for going again "Grab those and put them back on the desk" he ordered Mercy as he made himself ready and walked towards the door "Mercy" he whispered when she didn't move "Desk" he said when she looked at him, making him smile. He stood at the door and looked around the office one more time before opening the door "Mandy, did I get that right?"

"No Sir its Megan" she replied somewhat deflated that she hadn't left a big enough impact the first time for him to remember her name

"Sorry Megan, this is Mercedes" he said walking back towards her

"Mercedes Sir?" she asked walking towards Mercy "Hello Mercedes" she said half heartedly, making Mercy smile, _'He's single too'_ Megan thought

"Hello" Mercy said back with little emotion in her tone, _'Another bitch that wants my man'_ she thought, she was learning to do what she called her with contempt sound well, they were so used to people not expecting them to be together just because of the colour of their damn skin, on both sides, it was getting boring. Sam heard the game and went to sit back down showing Megan the chair in front of the desk, in an offer for her to sit down

"So" he said settling down in his chair again "What have I got planned for today?" he asked a smile on his face as he checked out Mercy's 'fuck her' face at a glance as she sat on the couch behind Megan, smiling back at him

"Well Sir you have a 10 am meet..." Mercy wasn't playing games with this woman, but she was with her husband, she put her foot up on the couch exposing her nakedness, staying like that for a while before raising her skirt to expose more of herself, it was all Sam could do to keep looking at Megan, as Mercy's skirt went higher and she was all but getting him hard while this damn woman talked at him, three minutes in and he gave up

"Megan can I get a minute please, I'll call you" he said as she quickly sprung up, Mercy's leg resumed its natural position quickly, Megan left the office "Mercy" he grinned after he'd took what was rightfully his "I have a meeting in like" he looked at the clock on the wall behind him saying as they finished "10 minutes ago" he laughed "Mercy I got to go" he finally said as they went towards his rest room for the second time already this morning.

"We haven't had alone time for about 4 weeks now Sam, are you aware of that while you're rushing me on" she said as they stood in the rest room, sorting themselves out

"We'll get there babe I promise" he said moving towards her "But right now I have my first meeting" he said kissing her quickly and pulling her with him to leave the office.

"I'm not coming to the meeting babe, I need to go check the children are being schooled properly" she smiled pulling away from him

"This is my not happy face babe, but I've got to go" he said going back to kiss her "I'll see you later at home, love you"

"Later babe Love you"

Sam was met with a frosty reception, because he was late for his first meeting he thought, smiling about it because the prize had been worth it. It was some time into the meeting when he realised that he was doing all the talking "What's the problem people do we have a business block thing going on, I'm not hearing progress in this conversation?" he asked

"We maybe need to recharge and get straight on to it, a lot of us have been unpacking for weeks maybe a get to know each other day for today and then get into things tomorrow Mr Evans?" Mr Graham the Manager of Technology suggested, Not wanting to overstretch on the first day Sam took his request into consideration and decided to meet the main drivers of his ship on a one to one basis so his first day was taken up with getting to know a bit about his staff some on a more personal level. Megan kept popping up with a broad smile and less dress every half an hour and even asked him if he wanted to go out for cocktails to get to know each other, of course he gracefully declined and went on to another one to one meeting with another Manager then suddenly it was 6 pm and time for him to get home

 **Home**

"How was school?" he asked the twins, as he stepped into the house closer to 7 pm, seeing them laying on couches in the main room

"Fine" Nappi said rolling her eyes

"I had to send that kid they sent to look out away" Jo told his Dad

"Why?"

"I couldn't even go to the toilet without Nappi attached he was so young, they sent Mrs Luwizhu, the original teacher, back in the afternoon and I told them to stick with her in future" he said as Sam knocked fists with him "We lost an hour today though because of it so I guess we'll make that up over the week"

"But you enjoyed what you got done yeah?" Sam asked as he made his way to the kitchen, tickling Nappi's foot as he went past making her smile

"Hello old man" she said through her laugh "I'm going to get a boyfriend, he's going to be bigger and badder than you two put together you'll see"

"Nobody's saying no poppet, it's just in another 5 years" her Dad said laughing now "Hi love of my life" he said as he walked into the kitchen seeing Mercy standing there

"Love of your life?" she questioned as Sam stood wishing he could bite his own tongue hard "What did she do?"

"Who? Oh whatever her name is nothing I can't handle babe" he said pulling Mercy into him "I don't even care because my wife loves me and that's all I need to know in this life" he said kissing her lips before she could say anything back

"I got some serious looks leaving your office this morning, like everyone knew" she laughed

"The office isn't soundproofed" he told her, followed by a kiss that lasted longer than usual "I needed that" he smiled when he finally let her go

The house phone rang for maybe the second time in the weeks they'd been there and everyone looked at each other before Mercy went forward and answered it "Hello"she said as everyone looked on "Yes this is she" "Oh" "Yes hello Mrs Madge" she said looking around the room at everyone as she spoke, then she closed her eyes for a while before biting her lip, a sign Sam knew just before she really wanted to say no to something, "Yes I can meet you tomorrow say 1 pm?" she asked before awkwardly smiling as she said "Tomorrow then 1 pm" putting the phone down before cutting her eye at Nappi "I've been roped into this damn choir thing" she said when she put the phone down

"Sorry Mom" Nappi said yet again

"It's your dinner hour you're coming with me" she said making Sam and Jo laugh

"Okay" she smiled as they sat down to their evening meal, family time and usual chill time, Jo and Nappi went to bed before them but they still stayed up to hear that vocal training sounds that told them everything in their world was alright

 **Tuesday**

Sam was off to work again to contend with his doting secretary, thinking when the right time would be to inform Mercy of what was actually going on, a call home and a conversation with Jo made him leave work to make sure he was at the 1 pm meeting with Mercy at the church

"Hi" Mercy said when she saw him walk in the door "What are you doing home?" she asked with a smile on her face, as she left what she was doing to go touch him

"I'm not going to lie my jealous came out and I need to see this damn Minister for myself" he said taking the kiss she was offering

"I love your jealous babe, means you still love me" she said rubbing his face as she spoke "But I love you so what's the stress?" she asked

"I just need to mark my territory you know how this goes" he smiled at her saying

"Just remember he's the Minister babe" she told him as she pecked his lips and moved away

"Come on it's time to go" Mercy finally said making Nappi stop her search and close down the computer before they got in the car and told the driver where they needed to be

Five minutes into the drive and Nappi was almost crying for thirst "We need to stop and get her some water or something" Sam said concerned at her cry pitch "Driver we need some water could you take us to buy some please" less than a minute later they were stopped as Sam went to find water for Nappi

Mercy and Nappi were sat in the car waiting when Mercy was drawn by music and singing coming from the other end of the market to where Sam had gone "Is it safe to come out here?" she asked the driver

"Yes Mrs Evans" he told her "But keep the car in view just in case"

They got out and went to see where the music and singing was coming from, as they stood looking down the right side of the cross road, they saw a man sitting there with a begging bowl in front of him singing the sweetest rendition of ' **U Saved Me' by R Kelly** Mercy had ever heard except for the original of course. They stood listening until Sam joined them giving Nappi the drink, Mercy found the courage to approach the guy "Hi I'm Mercy Evans"

"You want to save me?" the man's eyes lit up as he said it

"I wondered if you'd come with me and share that gift in church with some friends of mine?" she asked putting some money in his bowl

"I really don't do church" the man said "But if you're asking of course I will" he smiled looking at the money in his bowl

"I'm begging" Mercy smiled as the guy got up with his pan and followed them back to the car "This is Sam" she said introducing the man to her husband "And this is Naphtali my daughter" she finished as they sat almost in silence ready for the journey

"My English name is Michael but my friends call me John" he laughed

"Nice to meet you John" Mercy laughed as Sam echoed her greeting but not laughing

Sam's phone rang again and he needed to get back to the office as a matter of urgency according to Megan, he rolled his eyes before re-directing the driver, three minutes later he was sitting outside work "I'll see you all later" he said going in to kiss Mercy when he heard his name shouted and turned to see Megan standing at the door

"Mr Evans you have to come now" she said opening the car door, with urgency

"You have to come, now" Mercy echoed pushing him out the car as John looked on in shock

They reached the church to find Madge standing outside waiting "Hello again Miss Mercy" she said as they neared

"Hello Mrs Madge" she replied "This is Naptalie and John" she told her as Madge moved to the side to let them all in, looking John up and down as he passed

"Mrs Mercy" the Minister came towards them saying with a smile on his face, Dampening when he saw John coming towards him

"Minister Frazer" Mercy said smiling for his puzzlement "This is John and of course you've met Nappi before " she said as she looked beyond him to see the rest of the so called choir standing near the alter "Hi everyone" she called out to them

"Afternoon" they called back to her, looking at each other. At a guess Mercy would have said they were trying to place where John fit in her life as he stood there with Denim trousers and a ripped string vest on, well lived in face and some missing teeth, while Nappi and her had on designer jeans, Nappi a bling top and Mercy T-shit with some bling on and a lace jacket with their do's adding that little something.

"This is John he has a brilliant voice" she told them as they looked at him with scorn "Right we have an hour before my daughter needs to be back for study so lets make it worth it" she said, ignoring the looks and clapping her hands as she set about getting the choir to acknowledge their own voices and then putting them into groups trying to get them to listen to each other, learning names along the way. It was a good continuous forty minutes before anything resembling a good sound came out of the group and when it did they were so excited they lost the focus "Remember your key lets try the first line again" Mercy said trying not to roll her eyes for her frustration coming out. Ten minutes more and she'd got them doing a simple harmony resembling the sound of eight people singing together. "Sorry I've got to go, my daughter needs to get back to study" she told them

"Mrs Mercy is it alright if I stay for a while, I can make my way back" John asked as everyone looked at each other

"Of course John" she smiled as Nappi and her walked down the aisle and out the door

"Good Day" everyone said, unable to wait for her to go through the door to start asking their questions

"Okay" Madge the choir leader said as everyone leaned in wanting to know the answer too "I thought you was her husband?" she asked John

"No she picked me up, I was singing in the street" John replied

"I wondered why you was dressed like that" Madge told him laughing

"Have you met her husband?" a choir member asked

"Is he Asian, the children look Asian?" one of the other choir members asked before he could answer the first question

"I'll ask the questions if you don't mind" Madge said sternly, as everyone looked at John before moving off to do their own thing, knowing they'd just put Madge in the wrong mood "Can we get back to practising what Mrs Mercy just learned us?" she shouted as everyone got in line and started doing their bit

 **Back at Home**

"About time" Joe shouted as they walked in "You're twenty minutes late" he said looking at Nappi

"I was with Mom" she told him looking at her Mom for back up

"You're twenty minutes late" he repeated as she rushed to her seat, she knew his tone and he could last for days on a downer

"She was with me Jo" Mercy told him as he smiled at his Mom

"Hi Mommy dearest" he said sarcastically for her being the reason for Nappi's tardiness "Did everything go alright?" he asked as Mercy nodded a yes "Where's Dad?"

"We dropped him off at work on the way there, he got a call"

"So why didn't you go back for him?"

"Nappi had study and your Dad didn't want her travelling alone" Mercy told him wondering why Jo had asked that "Has your Dad said something?"

"No, just... no he hasn't" Jo finally finished with

If it had been Sam she'd have asked more questions but Jo was so loyal to his parents he'd never betray a confidence and she'd never ask him to "You alright?" she finally asked

"Yeah I'm fine" he smiled back at her "Can we study now please?" he asked side eyeing his Mom making her laugh at Sam's face doing her signature stop face, and pulling it off

"Sorry" she said through her giggle making her way to the bedroom to get changed before starting dinner. Sam was home two hours later, the children were in their rooms having free time

"Babe I've got to be at work for like 7 in the morning on Thursday for this breakfast meeting or something and then I'm booked up for meetings for the whole day so tomorrows it for us, if the children get Friday with you and Saturday is family day, could you keep that clear?" he asked

"I'm not booked up for anything you know that" she said walking into him for a kiss and hug "Stop stressing" she said kissing him again "You always get like this when it's time for me to travel" she said as she suddenly understood Jo's question earlier

"Have you told..." Sam got out before the phone rang

"That's either back to work for you or the damn church for me" Mercy said crossing the kitchen to grab the extension "Hello" she said smiling "Mrs Madge" she said rolling her eyes "Yes I can make Thursday" she said listening for a while longer before closing the call down "Please tell me why?" she asked a smiling Sam "Stop smiling and tell me why" she told him making him smile more

"You love God?" he suggested

"I do but, that doesn't equate to Mrs Madge and all the cats called choir" she laughed

"All God's creatures" he told her making her laugh harder "Dinner guys" he shouted to the children before Mercy started roping him into anything "I haven't forgotten Minister Frazer's card marking" he whispered in her ear as the children came into the kitchen "Hi Clan" he said fist bumping Jo while Nappi came in for her full hug "You alright poppet?" Sam asked when she held on

"Dad" she said looking at her Mom as Sam turned to look at Mercy

"What's up?" he asked Mercy before his eyes wondered around the room, looking at all three of his clan

"I don't know" Mercy said as Sam looked at her again "Honestly I don't know" she confirmed

"Dad I need you to call Jo off" Nappi blurted out "I can't breathe without him telling me how to, it was cute when I was 12 even 14 but I'm 16 in like 2 months and having my brother run the show about me just tells me you really don't trust me to make decisions about myself" she said looking at her Mom

"Naphtali" Jo said obviously angry, but she chose to ignore him and carry on talking to her Dad

"I can be trusted Dad, I see how Jo and his friends treat girls, and I really don't want to be a number on anyone's bedpost, I've had enough conversations with Mom to understand about all that, please tell Jo to stop"

"Number, bedpost?" Sam asked looking at a red faced Jo "What's been going on?" he said louder than usual

"Nothing Dad just lad stuff, come on you were young once" Jo said getting up to join the others in the middle of the kitchen, trying to make light of it

"Don't let me say what I think Nappi's telling my boy" Sam suddenly shouted at him as Mercy left her spot by the cooker and rounded the circle to stand next to Sam

"Sam" Mercy said grabbing his hand, trying to remind him it was the children he was talking to as both Jo and Nappi stood wondering who this person in front of them shouting actually was because this behaviour didn't conger up a picture of their Dad "Sam" Mercy tried again as she saw things about to get out of control "Sam" she said pulling his hand to get his attention, making his head move in her direction "Sam please" she said as he turned to fully look at her

"Mercy will you?" he asked checking himself as his children stood looking scared

"Yes" she said, letting go of his hand and he walked away leaving the three of them in the kitchen

"Jo" Mercy said closing her eyes for what she was about to ask "Please tell me you haven't gone against your Dad's only wish without even confiding in him?" she asked opening her eyes for the last few words

"Mom I'm still a virgin" he told her as she held her chest and breathed

"So what's Nappi talking about?" she looked at her asking Jo

"We do other things with girls you know oral stuff but never sex"

"You are not telling me those lips you use to kiss your damn Mother has been on the …."

"Mom, Mom" Jo said holding his hands up at her to stop "I don't do that no, I don't do that" he cut his eye at Nappi saying for having to have this conversation with their Mother "I know it's going to take a while for Dad to calm down but will you tell him I've broken no promises I wouldn't do that" he told her

"Here" Mercy said as she walked back towards the oven to get their meal, sharing it out and handing them a plate each "Eat and bed I don't need this days before I leave for a month you guys just behave yourself and Jo if you're doing those things I don't see you as a good role model for Nappi but your Dad will have the last say on that" she said closing the oven and leaving the kitchen to go speak to Sam

 **Jo & Nappi**

"Am I even going to ask you why that shit just happened?" Jo snapped at Nappi as they watched their Mother leave the kitchen

"Jo I'm sorry I didn't think we had any secrets I didn't think I was saying anything they didn't already know" she said sorry written all over her face

"I want to be so mad with you right now but I can't, you told the truth, but now our parents think the worst of me, they're ashamed of me" he said deflated

"I'm truly sorry Jo" she said grabbing his hand "Forgive me?" she looked into his eyes asking "Mom and Dad know you, they know us, you're forgiven trust me"

"I guess I'm compelled to I love you Nap, but please no more of our stuff to Mom and Dad it's gonna take time to win them round after this" he smiled "You know Nap, I want to let go a bit, but it's like you don't even know what those guys can do to a girl like you and I'm seriously scared for that" he laughed nervously

"Those guys out there don't know what a bro like you can do" she smiled at him saying "And I can handle myself Jo, I made that promise too"

"I'll try" he said as they tucked into their meal

 **Sam & Mercy**

"He says to tell you he's still a virgin" she said as she closed the door behind her and leaned on it waiting for him to respond "I said he said..."

"I heard you babe" he said finally turning to look at her "I'm sorry about that, it shouldn't have happened I promised you and well finally I broke a promise" he said turning to look back out the window

"You didn't" she said walking towards him "You thought he'd broken a family promise and that's a serious thing so you reacted as I'd expect you to, showing them Mad Sam right now was the best thing that could have happened, because now they know, my man bites" she said grabbing hold of his hair to pull his head round to look at her "Such a fucking turn on Mr Evans" she said taking his mouth and using her sexy to mellow him out "It's almost our Day" she said at some ungodly hour of the morning as they finally closed their eyes for sleep to arrive


	2. Chapter 2

**Wednesday**

"Babe can you smell cooking?" Mercy asked as she opened her eyes

"Yeah I can hear those two talking too" he replied

"I told you that was the best move ever last night" she said turning round to kiss him good morning "So what have you got planned, when we finally get up at maybe 2 this afternoon?" she asked laughing

"Wrong" he laughed "We're not getting up, alone time remember?"

"We are, either now or about 1 this afternoon, take your pick Mr"

"Now" he replied getting out of bed

"Really?"

"Really" he smiled "We'll be back in bed by 1 this afternoon, and then we really won't be going anywhere else"

"Sam"

"What, Jo and Nappi are cooking, we got to get up anyway"

"Mrs Luwizhu should be here soon for study, that's why they're up already"

"No it's because of last night, Nap wants permission to give her virginity away and Jo's trying to appease me with this virgin crap, they think I'm a push over" he started in to his ranting saying

"Hey" Mercy finally said shaking her head at him "We know these people, we trust them, they trust us with their lives, we love them, they love us, our clan is tight, lies are not a part of who we are to each other, if they tell us something it's because they believe it"

"I know I just can't deal with the heartbreak" he said

"There's no point in willing it to come, if it ever happens we'll deal with it together okay?"

"Okay" he smiled "What do you want to do this morning?"

"Sightseeing maybe and get some lunch"

"Do you want to go to the National Park its maybe the closest to us I think other Safari treks are outside Nairobi"

"Yeah, that'll be good" she said as she grabbed her dressing gown and threw his to him before leaving the bedroom to see what was going on. As Mercy had told him the children were cooking up a storm, saying sorry and confirming that promises made were still in tact, appreciating parents and showing the love. Jo and Nappi were doing their thing again thinking for each other, working and talking in unison as they talked endlessly to reassure their Dad everything was alright

"Dad I'm willing to back up on Nappi, but only if you tell me to, and I'm not talking backing off here" he told him

"I'll work with whatever you give me Dad" Nappi told him as they sat silent for the first time since breakfast started 25 minutes ago waiting for their Dad's reaction

"Okay we'll try it for the rest of the week, let her up a bit" Sam finally agreed as Jo and Nappi hugged him

"Morning Children, Mrs Evans and …."

"Mr Evans, Mrs Luwizhu, he's my husband"

"He's your husband?" she asked looking at Sam "He's, he's whi... Hello Mr Evans" she finally said holding her hand out for shaking, Sam took it smiling having had such conversations before he was eager to see how Mercy dealt with it "Mrs Evans, sorry to say but, we don't do this here"

"Do what?" Mercy asked, her full attention on Mrs Luwizhu now waiting for her to disrespect the hand that was currently feeding her, so she could sack her ass

"Sorry" Mrs Luwizhu said diverting her attention to the children "Hope you guys are ready for the day's study"

"Double the work today Mrs Luw, we have family day on Friday, because Mom's off on her tour next week for a month" Jo said as they got up to go to the study, totally oblivious to the connotations in the conversation their parents were having with this woman

"Mom, Dad have a good day" Nappi said as she went, with Jo waving his agreement with what she was saying as he ate the last of his breakfast on the go

"Right" Sam turned to Mercy saying "Our day" he smiled

"We're out first you promised" she warned him

"I didn't promise anything I just agreed with you" he said as his smile got bigger "But I'm holding myself to it honestly, we need to get dressed" he said walking towards their bedroom as Mercy followed him still suspecting he might still play a card. The national park trip took 40 minutes to get to and nearly five hours to get round with lots of stops and photo opportunities, they got home exhausted with food for the children and except for a short catch up as they ate, went directly to bed for their late afternoon nap. In the evening Sam took Mercy to the only American eatery on the complex and they watched the sun go down sitting at the bar as the sea stretched out in front of them and the red sky mingled between land and sea in the distance "Now that sight puts something else in my mind" he laughed as they sat and he started humming then singing **'Body like a Back Road' by Sam Hunt**

"It's a beautiful night" Mercy said as they sat across from each other after his song, talking but not talking "I love you"

"I love you too" he smiled "Come on" he said getting up and holding his hand out for her to grab "I plan on finding out how much right now"

"And you're sure you want to know that answer?"

"Back Roads all the way" he laughed as they made their way back home walking the distance back to their home, the children already sleeping

 **Thursday**

 **Sam**

"Babe sorry about the short night but it's a long day today and you know I'll need winding down when I get back" he smiled "Good luck with the choir thing" he said cheekily

"I miss you already"

"Kisses to the children and tell them I said I love them yeah I was a bit hard yesterday"

"I like your hard babe" she giggled

"Mercy" he warned

"What?" she asked looking at him mischievously "I said I like your hard…. face with the children, what?" she giggled again

"I'd so love to carry this on with you but it's 6.20 already, I got to go babe I miss you" he said kissing her once for her, then once each for the children and then another one for him "Go" he told himself pulling away and heading towards the door

"Sam" she said as he got to the door, flashing the covers off her to reveal her nakedness at him "Hurry back" she smiled all he could do was open the door and walk out of it before he changed his mind and lost his damn job

6.50 am

Sam arrived at work ten minutes early to find Megan in his office "Everything alright?" he asked shocked for seeing her there "I'd like to keep this locked in the future and you only come in here under my direction for specifics, I've got so much sensitive stuff in here I need to be careful"

"Yes Mr Evans, I was just turning your computer on and setting up your days meetings paperwork for you to have a look through" she said

"Thank you anyway but as I said in future"

"Yes Sir" she said smiling the biggest smile "I took the liberty of ordering your coffee and sandwich for breakfast, just how you like it"

"Thank you Megan, but my wife always makes sure I eat before I leave home every morning" he lied for this morning "So I shouldn't bother in future" he told her a bit agitated that she had learned that about him in just three days and he wasn't even there yesterday

"Yes Sir meeting in 7 minutes" she said looking up at the clock in his office, deflated having heard him mention a wife

7.00 am

"Sir" Megan burst into his office saying as he looked up from the paperwork he was reading "It's one minute to" she said as her head bobbed seductively at the doorway with an unfamiliar smile on her face, like she was thinking unmentionable things about him, making him smile for a second _'it's not Mercy'_ he told himself before getting up with his professional head on definitely annoyed that she hadn't listened to his knock thing on their first meeting

"Megan" he said as he walked towards her "We had this convers..."

"Sam, great to see you again, have you settled in?" Harry, his boss, asked as he walked towards him "Do you like your office?" he asked before Sam could answer the first question

"Harry, I didn't know you were coming in today, good to see you and yes, the office is great" he said moving forward to shake Harry's hand

"I wasn't, but then I got word there was a problem and I thought I'd come see for myself"

"Problem?" Sam asked puzzled that he hadn't been made aware of it "I'm afraid I can't help you there"

"Let's go see" Harry said walking in front of Sam as they entered the meeting room

Sam stood looking around as everyone looked up as if they didn't expect him to be at the meeting, there was a long table laid out with breakfast and people helping themselves to things while some sat at the rather large formal rectangle table waiting for the meeting to start. For a second he wondered why Megan would have gotten the urge to bring his breakfast to his office when even Harry was eating from the well-stocked buffet, he was drawn out of his thoughts by Mr Graham's look and suddenly he knew why Harry was there _'He'd better blow this out the damn water or he's lost himself a CEO'_ he thought as he found his seat and sat in it sizing everyone up. They went through the agenda stuff quite amicably and even had a break 3 hours in and dealt with the staffing issue that had been high on the agenda since Sam had been CEO "So" Harry stated as everyone found someone to look at "Everything we've done so far has been done well, I'm satisfied so Mr Hall please, why am I really here?" Harry asked

"Well" Mr Hall said looking at Mr Graham "We, that's all of us" he said looking around before adding "Why am I suddenly the spokesperson you're the instigator Mr Graham you have the floor"

"Sir" Mr Graham said moving in his seat "As Mr Hall said we have a problem with... Mr Evans actually" his eyes quickly scanning the room "Well not Mr Evans really he's a good man and a fair boss but" he said looking around the table again "We have a problem since we heard he was married to a black woman, well not us but Kenya in general, it's very frowned on here and any negative publicity would be bad for the company" he looked around the table at the others for encouragement as he continued his argument "I think for the sake of his family, I believe he has children too, he should be sent to a more tolerant environment"

"We're genuinely scared for him and his family" Mrs Penn; the HR Manager stated

"So you called me here because?" Harry asked

"Mr Evans may be in danger because he has a mixed family Sir"

"Really?" Harry asked

"Yes Sir" Mr Graham answered

"It's not like they've never seen mixed races before Graham" Harry bellowed throwing his wallet on the table "Look at that" he ordered as Mrs Penn picked it up and looked before passing it round "The people who matter focus on business with this company" he said as the picture of his Granddaughter was circulated with her dark brown tight curls, piercing blue eyes and chocolate brown skin with the brightest smile "She looks like my wife, obviously her age makes her cuter, she's 5 years old now" he smiled

"She's beautiful" Mrs Penn smiled

"And don't get me wrong, if Mr Evans should ever request a move I would respect his wishes, but that conversation is for he and I to have, so I'll thank you all to keep your opinions about what people can and can't deal with to yourselves" Harry said getting up "Sam anything to add"

"I dare not speak" Sam said getting up with him and walking out leaving the door open as Mr Graham and the rest of the team stood or sat looking at the door

"I will say this" Harry said looking back at the people in the room "If any of this teaming up rubbish causes problems for Mr Evans and his family your jobs are on the line, none of you are non-replaceable" he warned "I suggest you guys figure out how you're going to fix this bridge you've just formed" Harry told them before walking out

Sam walked into his office shut the door, clenched his fists and did a hulk cry with the frustration of not being able to do a damn thing about that "Sir are you alright?" he heard looking over his shoulder across the room to see Megan sitting in his chair

"What are you doing in here?" he asked loudly while walking towards her

"I thought you might need some help coming out of that meeting, there's a lot to pack"

"Pack?" Sam asked, his mind reminding him this was a woman standing in front of him "What should I be packing Megan?" he spat

"I thought you'd agreed to leave"

"No, that option was never on the table actually" he smiled "And please, what the hell are you doing in my office?"

"You come out of a meeting with such pent up anger and ask what I'm doing in your office?" she smiled

"Yes" he said instantly angry for where she was taking this "I'd call this harassment" he told her

"I'm not harassing, I'm giving"

"What exactly?"

"Me"

"Did you not see my wife up in here the other day, all over this shit?" he asked her putting his business out there, "It was you wasn't it that spread that around and made it an issue?" he asked but carried on before she could answer "In fact do you know who my wife is?" he smiled

"At a guess I'd say Mrs Evans" she laughed "But not for long" still insistent on getting her way

"Well yeah she's very much that, but you must have been living under a rock the past 16 years or so to haven't heard of Mercedes Jones" he told her

"I've heard of her" she smiled, Sam knew as soon as the words left his mouth he'd done the wrong thing in telling her that, but she was planning on getting all up on him and he really didn't want to play, his family meant everything to him, _'he really is with a black'_ she thought alarm bells going off in her head "Sir, you're next meeting is due in 20 minutes" she told him, her voice changed to professional as she hurriedly left his office, he followed her to the door

"Harry" he shouted through the door as he saw him making for the elevator, signalling for him to wait while he grabbed his wallet and keys and followed him "Thanks for waiting, I just needed to run this by you before I do anything" he said stopping to get in the lift "Megan; I need a man, she has something going on I really don't want to be dealing with, and with Mercy being who she is, I really don't need to be around any scandal, you know me I'm all for a quiet life and everything, she's too full on, turning up in my office all but naked and shit, no can do Boss"

"Whatever you see fit as long as the company runs well and generates a profit above board I'm good" Harry said smiling "And I admire the way you dealt with that today, I don't know I'd have been that calm" he laughed

"It's really not a new subject for us, truthfully I'm amazed people still watch that stuff" Sam said as the lift reached it's destination "Will you be around later?"

"I'm going back at 6, but we could get lunch if you wanted"

"I've a meeting in less than fifteen, full day today" Sam said shaking Harry's hand and pressing the button to get back upstairs "Bye"

"Bye Sam" Harry said as the door closed

Sam went back upstairs and was met with lots of eyes, he smiled went to the sandwich machine and made his choices before he walked into his office, if that was the best they had it was nothing, he prepared for his next meeting while eating the sandwich and a lukewarm coffee, answering his phone as it rang

"Sam" Mercy said on the other end making him drop everything

"Babe" he breathed "It's real good to hear your voice" a smile in his voice

"I just needed to hear yours too, I just called to let you know the children are with me this afternoon, Mrs Luwizhu was asking them stupid questions and I had to let her go, they shouldn't have to listen to stuff like that"

"It's alright babe I understand, and it's fine for a day"

"What time are you planning on finishing?"

"Would you believe 8.30 or there about, I've got two more meetings after this break, both long ones

"I'll expect you about 10 then"

"Expect me, I'm gonna wake you up" he giggled

"As I said I'll expect you" she said without laughing being PC for the children being with her

 **Jo & Nappi**

9 am

They'd had a strange Tuesday their Dad had turned into an angry green giant, a side of him they'd never seen before, after that they'd sat up half the night discussing what they could do to get his trust back and getting an understanding of why Mom usually dealt with everything and he was always so playful "He's like Hancock" Nappi had said with genuine fright in her voice. So when their Mom and Dad had got up all loved up they done the tag thing and sort of got what they wanted which was for Nappi to be a bit freer and Jo to start learning to let her go. On the evening they'd decided to broach Jo's misunderstanding thing with his Dad but when their parents came in so tired they'd decided to hold it back and if anything jump on it on Friday, in their time. So Thursday morning, they'd just been given their Dad's kiss and were feeling a bit better about things, when Mrs Luwizhu turned up, they didn't really know what to expect, all they knew for sure was that she was early

"Geography" she said as they opened their usual Spanish book

"Geography?" Jo questioned looking at Nappi

"Yes get your coats we'll do some natural geography, Just finding some places" she told them, the place Mrs Luwizhu happened to find was an Arts Museum in town that were showing a short play on what Jo could only describe as the biggest dis to his kind, about a black woman being outcast because she dare to kiss some old white man back in the 16th Century or something. They sat through it only because they didn't know where they were and they'd gone in her car and not one of theirs, like their Dad always told them to, but she was their teacher and she'd been put in a position of trust. Nappi was so mad she couldn't even speak because she knew if anything came out of her mouth she would automatically be in the wrong so she just kept looking at Jo every now and again widening her eyes in disbelief whenever Mrs Luw said anything.

"So do you understand now why what you are is so wrong?" Mrs Luw asked

Jo was dumb struck while Nappi just rocked in her seat while the car took them nearer to home "Mom" Nappi shouted as soon as they stepped out the car "Mom" she shouted again as she opened the door and walked in

"In the kitchen sweet" Mercy shouted back at her, seeing Jo and Nappi standing in the doorway, looking pissed at the world, made her leave the cooking and turn fully to hear what they had to say

"Get Mrs Thing out of our house" Nappi said waving her arms about her face seriously set in 'it's all going down now' mode

"What's wrong?" Mercy asked looking from one to the other and reading upset

"Mrs Luw is racist get her out the house" Jo confirmed as Mercy looked up to see the woman coming towards them

"Mrs Luwizhu, what's wrong with my children?" she asked the woman now standing in front of them

"We did a geography lesson with a bit of history that they didn't want to hear I guess"

"What history?" Mercy asked as Jo and Nappi started telling her the detail of the play they'd just seen "You know all that stuff guys" Mercy said puzzled looking at them

"Mrs Luw's focus was on the produce of the relationship" Jo informed her

"What do you mean the produce?" Mercy asked the children looking at Mrs Luwizhu thinking wrong things

"At the end of the history lesson she asked us if we understood now why we were wrong" Nappi told her Mom

"What?" Mercy said unable to catch her breath "What do you mean wrong?" she focused on Mrs Luwizhu asking "Sorry Guys" she said stepping in front of them "What the fuck do you mean wrong?" she shouted at her saying "How dare you, who the hell do you think you are telling my children they are wrong, you're wrong" she said as Mrs Luwizhu looked on almost scared

"I just wanted..."

"You just wanted what?" Mercy asked stepping up in her face "You need to get out of our house, and don't expect any pay, your sacked"

"No Mrs Evans, I really didn't mean anything by it all, it was a less..."

"Let this be a lesson to you bitch, everyone round here is going to know your views, I don't think you'll be working on this complex by the end of the week" Mercy said finally looking back at the children and seeing it was time for her to stop "Leave our house" she said calmly, going back to hug the children and watch this woman leave their house "I'm sorry you had to go through that guys" she said hugging them

"I hear you're leading the choir at the local Baptist church" Mrs Luwizhu laughed saying "Let's see how popular that goes down when they find out about your cast family"

"You say one word to anyone, badmouthing my family, and you or your family will never work in these parts again now get out!" Mercy shouted as the door slammed

"Shoot, the choir, you guys will have to come with me" she told them grabbing her bag as she made for the door with the children following, to find a cab at the door "Oh" she said when she saw the driver standing with the door open

"Mr Evans ordered the cab Mrs Mercy" she smiled as they got in

"Sam" she smiled getting her phone out to call him as she got in the cab

 **Mercy**

Having passed the kisses on she'd had a relaxing day getting out of the bathroom to find the children and Mrs Luwizhu gone with a note saying Geography lesson, she was good with that, it had been a while since the children had been allowed to leave the complex, there were few children around and all of them much younger than hers, now she could finally get some vocal training in. For some unknown reason Sam had sprung to her mind and she wondered if he was doing something that was a bit out of his depth, but then a rush of fight passed through her and she knew whatever it was he was dealing with it. "Can I speak to Mr Evans?" she asked calling his office, rather than his phone knowing he'd got random meetings all day, the phone was picked up by Megan

"Sam's in a meeting at the moment can I take a message?" the voice came back saying "Who am I speaking to please?" she asked politely

"It's Mrs Evans" Mercy threw back down the phone _'Where the fuck do you get off calling my husband Sam on the damn phone?"_ her tone questioned

"Sorry Mrs Evans, it's Megan, his PA, Mr Evans will be out around 2 pm ish if you'd like to call back or I could take a message if you wish" Megan said trying to back track

"It's fine, thank you" Mercy said cutting the call off "Bitch" she said to the dead phone before putting it down to start fixing the children something for lunch on their return. She'd prepared a pie, so Sam could heat some up when he came in and just finished chopping some potatoes for chips later, when the children suddenly descended "in the kitchen sweet" she shouted to their question before turning to see a distressed Nappi "What's up?" she'd asked and had to deal with all their complaints ending with Mrs Luwizhu being fired and the children going with her to the church choir thing. As they left the house she smiled that Sam had booked them a cab, jumped in and called him to let him know what was going on, 40 minutes later they were getting out at the Baptist Church to hopefully make a choir ready for singing on Sunday morning .

"Mrs Evans" Mrs Madge said as she stood at the door waiting for her to get to her "You have the children with you?"

"Yes slight problem with the teacher today"

"Yes indeed" Mrs Madge said knowingly

"You met Nappi last time but I guess you didn't fully meet Joseph my son" Mercy said holding her hand up to present Jo

"I'm guessing he looks like his father" she replied as Mercy stepped forward into Mrs Madge's way seeing she had no intention of moving to let her in

"Can you answer me a question?" Madge asked

"I can try, I can't guarantee a good answer though" Mercy giggled looking past her body blocking the doorway to see who was in church

"Is your husband …."

"Alive, yeah he is why?" Mercy asked almost sarcastically, as she spotted Mrs Luwizhu in the crowd

"Because we..."

"Are very nosy here" Mercy finished for her "Well where I come from, if you can't sing you don't stand up in front of a damn church full of people and show yourself up about it" she said putting her hand on her hip as she spoke "And we definitely don't block the mouth of the place God lives in, in fact we accept sinners so, in my definition I guess you're all in the right place" she said staring into Madge's eyes and pushing her hand away so she could walk past her, now she was damn mad

"All I'm saying is it's not right, don't tell the church they won't accept it" Madge told her as she followed her down the aisle

"Why because you want to have something over me?" she asked

"No because it will go very bad for you" Madge replied

"Oh Mrs Luw, I see you're faster than pigeons" she said making sure she knew she had been spotted in the choir crowd.

"I said I wanted to see how you got on" Mrs Luwizhu replied a laugh in her voice

"So can you sing?"

"Yes I can" she snapped back

Mercy was out to make them all show their worth today, ' _how dare they stand there professing to be anything better than anybody else, pretending to be people of God hiding behind this building and their version of the word of the Bible and call us wrong. Who the hell dare look at our life of love, commitment, and sacrifice and call it something wrong, they are going to think something is wrong by the time I finish with them today'_ she smiled

"Michael" she shouted calling the young boy to the front "Let's see what you've learned since Tuesday Sweet" she said spinning him round to face the group "Do the runs I told you to practice please" she asked as he with ease followed her instructions and did it "Beautiful" she said as he walked back to his place "Hedi you're next" she said calling her out with her hand action "The same please" she said smiling for the marked improvement in her sound "Brilliant" she said happy with the two youngest members of the group at their tender age of 18 and 21. The next youngest was maybe 38 or there abouts and as the age increased the singing got worse "Shall we just give up now?" Mercy asked, frustration in her voice, as she listened to Daphne the maybe 45 year old singing so out of tune she barely recognised the run "Listen" she said, looking back at Jo and Nappi, who wouldn't dare to make fun of what their Mom was doing right now, they knew this mood only too well, someone had pissed her off and the first person to step out of line was going to get it. They looked at each other as she looked at them knowing she'd just found her first victim, poor Daphne "Jo, Nappi come here please" she asked as they sprung up without question and walked down the aisle to their Mother "This is without practice, warning or warm up" she turned to the choir saying before turning back to her children "Sing something for these people who think we're wrong"

"Like?" Jo asked

"Whatever it's just to prove a point" Mercy replied

"Okay" Jo said going forward as Nappi followed him "I'd just like to say that God defines who we all are so we'd like to sing **'Powerful' by Jessie Smollett & Alicia Keys **is that alright Mom?" he asked as she nodded a yes and they went about doing their own rendition of the song, when they finished Mercy was up clapping

"Now that's how you sing" she looked around telling the choir "Daphne you hearing that?"

"We can do that" Eddy, the tenor of the outfit, said "If we had something fresh to sing" he added "And we're not asking for rap or anything" he laughed

"I can rap too" Joseph told him "My Dad learned me, well it's not learned it's in our DNA" he laughed

"Join the choir then" Madge said as Nappi and Jo looked at their Mom

"Your choice" she told them holding her hands up

"I'm torn" Nappi stepped forward saying "Black folk don't want us to be black is that right Mrs Madge?" she asked looking at the Black woman standing looking back at her, but not letting her answer "And white folk don't want us to be white, right Mrs Linda?" she said to their white skinned Contralto singer as the choir started whispering to each other about Mercy's white husband

"No I don't want you to be anything I just know in these parts they say colours don't mix, I didn't say anything about agreeing with it" she replied as Nappi smiled at her

"Everybody's proving themselves here today except Mrs Evans, what do you bring to the challenge?" Mrs Luwizhu asked

"I bring the knowledge I'm the teacher" she said sharply, still angry with her about what she'd said to her children earlier "So come on guys let's get this song going for Sunday" she said clapping her hands as everyone got back to choir "If your good I'll sing something on Sunday" she smiled as they straightened up, only Jo and Nappi got excited about that. They finally decided on **'Heal the World' by Michael Jackson** for the service on Sunday to showcase their new sound and everyone went away with their section of the song to practice and get back together for Saturday morning for their final rehearsal, suddenly it was 6 pm and the driver was in Church encouraging Mercy to leave the area now to be back within a safe time. By the time they got back home it was 7 pm and not long before Sam was home, Mercy fed the children and went to grab a bath while they ate and by 9.30 pm they were bathed and having quiet time in their own rooms.

Sam arrived home at 9.50 pm exhausted and fed up of listening "Food?" she shouted when she heard the door close, she got no answer and turned to see Sam standing in the doorway of the kitchen as she stood sharing his portion out "Hi babe, I missed you today" she smiled at him before turning back to finish what she was doing, while he stood just watching her. She put the food to heat up and went to him "I need those lips on me" she said climbing up him to get her kiss "Babe..." she got out before he pulled her back into him and attacked her lips again

"I don't want to hear anything except your noises right now babe" he pulled away from her saying, picking her up and making his way to their bedroom

 **Friday**

"Chilled?" she asked when he finally opened his eyes at around 4 am

"Mellow" he smiled "God I missed you yesterday" he said pulling her in "I should have told you the first day it happened but I guess I didn't want to worry you but Megan's getting a bit clingy, I've asked Harry if it's alright to get me a male assistant he's fine with that so I hope to get one tomorrow"

"Yeah I called you yesterday and she was like 'Sam's in a meeting' I wanted to snap that bitches head off" she laughed mimicking Megan's voice

"See, she didn't even tell me that"

"Mr Supremacist's wife came to visit yesterday told our children their existence was wrong"

"What?" Sam asked sitting up to hear properly "Whose Mr Supremacist?"

"You heard me" Mercy spun round saying "Then she went to church, got there before us and told Mrs Madge my husband was white, are we living in the fucking 18th century?"

"What happened?" Sam smiled

"I flipped for a hot second and when I came to everyone was doing as I asked" she smiled as Sam full on laughed

"My Diva" he said getting up "I'm starving"

"I'll get your dinner"

"No babe you've got a full day with the children tomorrow get some sleep" he said grabbing his housecoat and leaving the bedroom, when he got back Mercy was sleeping, he lay watching her for a while before pulling her to him and finding sleep himself

"Mom" they heard as the door knocked "Mom" they heard Jo shouting through the door "It's nearly 10 am come on the days nearly finished" he laughed "Dad let her go"

"Babe" Mercy said as they were about to get up

"Babe" Sam said rolling his eyes "I want to too but it's the children's day I can't be selfish about that"

"Oh, I can" she laughed "But no it's not that, I promised the choir we'd do one last practice tomorrow morning, I know it's family time but I'm trying to change people's perspectives of us and I think it's important to keep my word right now"

"It's important to keep your word all the time babe" he said kissing her forehead as he spoke "I'm fine with that"

"Oh but first thing another teacher for those guys" she said nodding her head towards the door

"Let's see what happens on Sunday, I've got a feeling Mrs Luwizhu will come round"

"Okay"

They all had breakfast before Mercy and the children went off to see the orphaned elephants, visited the Karen Blixen Museum before lunch and spent the afternoon at the Living museum watching dancers and live story telling of a different kind to what they'd seen the previous day.

Sam went off to work, recruited his new assistant and had only one meeting for the day, everyone was back home for 7 pm and eating their evening meal together "Should I get a guide for tomorrow?" he asked Mercy as they finished the meal

"I guess, I thought we could go on the Railway Museum it's like a 4 hour round trip but we could stop off for lunch and if we had a guide, they may be able to show us some of the native country, great idea babe, I'm excited now" Mercy said jumping up and down on the chair making Sam go red

"Do you ever turn that brain of yours off?" he smiled across the table

"I'm never turned off" she smiled back

"Guys" Jo said cringing "Whatever code you think your using it's not working, we're all in this conversation of yours"

"What!" Sam and Mercy asked together looking at him the smile still on their faces

"Does anyone want to play monopoly?" Nappi asked as everyone jumped at the offer, playing until bedtime, which happened directly after Sam lost, it didn't take long for Mercy to get him to vocal training level leaving Nappi and Jo with smiles for their world being right

 **Saturday**

"Okay guys come on the earlier we start the more time we get to ourselves" Sam shouted as everyone made ready after breakfast "We're doing the choir thing first" he told them as Jo and Nappi looked at each other unsure if they were scared or excited about that. The response to their family generics was touched by their Mom on Thursday and they'd dreaded that but, after that display the other day, with Dad in the mix now any wrong word could set things off and when it came to defending his family Dad was like a time bomb "Chop chop" Sam said clapping his hands as they hurried to do what they'd been told, and ran out to the waiting car

"There's a habit forming here" Mercy said as the car pulled off and Sam's phone rang again

"I told them I was off today so it must be an emergency" he said taking his phone out listening to the person on the other side rolling his eyes and biting his bottom lip until the call finished "10 minutes" he said closing his phone "Sorry babe, just a quick one you guys can wait if you want" he told them

"No we'll pick you up on the way back" Mercy replied as Nappi and Jo gave each other a look of relief

"Morning all" Mercy said as she walked into the church to see the crowd at the alter waiting

"Morning" they almost sung

"Okay we have about an hour" She said clapping her hands as they made ready for practice, Mercy couldn't hide it she was surprised at the progress, they had obviously took time out to take this singing thing seriously, bringing a smile to her face "Okay final run through" she finally announced as everyone did their part really well on the final rehearsal "Okay we dare not do the death out of it so I guess we're ready for the congregation tomorrow" she smiled as she grabbed her bag

"So Mrs Evans" John said making her look round smiling

"Yes John?" she asked her voice the lightest it had been all day

"Are we going to hear you sing tomorrow?"

"We'll see" she smiled flicking her bag over the shoulder as she walked with her children out of the church and into the waiting car, grabbing Sam on the way through and they spent the day as planned arriving back at the complex at around 9 pm after evening meal out as a treat

"Can't believe you're going away for a month tomorrow Mom" Jo said hugging her as they stood in the kitchen talking "I miss you already, vocal training every night I mean morning and stuff"

"You don't even hear that every morning" she laughed

"Believe, the past month or so we've heard it mainly nights" Nappi assured her laughing "It tells us you're happy"

"And there I was being quiet about it" Mercy laughed embarrassed

"Nothing should be covert about love Mom" Jo said looking at his Dad "Right Dad?"

"Right son" Sam said fist bumping him across the table "Serious talk now"

"What's up?" Jo asked as Sam looked at everyone before carrying on

"That stuff you guys went through with Mrs Luwizhu the other day, don't sweat it, I had a whole board meeting Thursday morning, even Harry, remember him? was there" he laughed "The team thought I should go home and take my family with me because, they don't do things like us, whatever the hell that means, around here" he said his fists tightening as he spoke "I didn't have to say anything I guess they heard about, or should I say saw, Harry's granddaughter and had to shut up" he giggled "I was mega pissed about the whole thing and in honesty I haven't really spoken to many of them since, but my stance is that, we have another nearly 2 years left here and they are not removing me so they need to change their statement to 'We didn't do that here, but we do now' " he said laughing

"Hear Hear" Nappi said clapping as she spoke

"So how did you feel about what that woman said?" Sam asked his children

"Angry" Nappi said her lips thin with feeling

"She was just lucky she was a woman, is all I'm saying" Jo replied

"I can only advise you to let it go guys, there'll be bigger and more significant fights throughout life for you to get your teeth into, changing who you are to suit someone else, I'm sure you know is not one of those fights" he smiled "Leave them to struggle within themselves about that one, they'll soon find the problem is with them" he laughed

"You're so wise" Mercy said stroking his arm as she looked at him

"Yeah right" Jo said spoiling the mood

"What?" Sam asked him

"Nothing it's just what Mom just said, but didn't say" he chuckled

"What, you don't think I'm wise?" Sam smiled asking

"You're wise old man" Jo said shaking his head as he walked away to his bedroom "Goodnight Family" he shouted back waving his hand above his head as he went "Nappi" he shouted as he opened his door

"Yeah I know" she said getting up to go to her room too "Goodnight parents" she said kissing them both "Goodnight mouth" she said as she walked past Jo's room door, making fun of all his lip chap on his dresser

"I love you too Adidas" he laughed "Goodnight" making reference to the trainers too many to actually count in her room

"And then there was two" Sam smiled grabbing Mercy to him making the chair move "Was that Navi for bedroom?"

"I didn't say anything"

"Thou doest protest too much" he laughed getting up and pulling her up with him

"Protest, that's a bit strong" she smiled "I guess I could try that, protesting that is" she suggested as they went towards their bedroom

 **Sunday**

"Hey" Sam said smiling when he woke up to Mercy laying looking down at him "I miss you already, that was officially our last sleep for a month" he said going up to kiss her

"I know I was just putting that in memory" she said when she came out of the kiss, touching his face "Shit" she said moving her face for the tear that fell "I promise this won't happen every damn time" she said, as Sam pulled her face back to look at him and wiped her tear away for her

"I love you"

"I know and I love you too, so damn much" she said kissing him again "I miss you already too" she smiled "Come on let's get ready for church"

The usual morning routines took place; breakfast, bathroom, dressed, drive and they were stood outside church 20 minutes early for a change from the previous Sunday "So much has happened this week it doesn't even seem like just a week has gone by, but it has" Mercy said as Sam stepped out of the car and put his hand forward for her to grab hold of to get out as Jo took Nappi out the other side, All four suited and booted ready for the congregation.

"Here we go" Sam said as they mounted the steps of the church

They knew they were early but the church was already more than two thirds full, Mercy looked at Sam and smiled for the grapevine effect, having coached the choir "It's nearly full already" she whispered to him

"I guess that might have something to do with me" he said as members of the congregation walked towards them

"Mr Evans, Good morning" a man came up to him saying as Sam smiled

"Mr Graham nice to see you this morning "This is Mrs Evans and our children Joseph and Naphtali"

"Strong names" he said shaking hands as he smiled

That went on for several minutes until Mercy cottoned on that the choir mainly consisted of the wives, husband, sibling or children of those working at Try-Bet. By 10.25 the church was packed to the rafters not even standing room to be found "You guys need to make an impression" she warned as she sat up front to the left side, with the choir and Sam beside her "Is that Megan?" she asked him as she looked into the crowd

"Yeah I might have let it slip that you were Mercedes Jones, when she was coming onto me" _knowing that was the perfect place to let that bit of information pass his lips, she'd got at least 4 hours to get that out her system any other way but shouting at him and by the time they got home leaving him would be heavy enough on her mind not to even think about questioning his actions in doing that_. He smiled as his cunning plan, looking in Mercy's direction to see her looking straight back at him and he knew in that second there was no way she was going to let that slide, she hated being liked for who she pretended to be, and catching him feeling smug about it; he rolled his eyes at the comeback, this time it was Mercy's turn to smile.

"Good morning congregation" they heard making them both look at the Minister as he went into his usual greetings, prayers, questions and the like before the Choir were asked to sing their song

"Right" Mercy said getting up "Heal the World" she said nodding them to get ready as they stood up and found their places, everyone looking nervous "Okay let's imagine this place empty with just a deaf person sitting at the back and we really want them to hear us get our message across to them" she smiled "Piano ready?" she asked as William sounded the note for each section and they eventually started their rendition of the well-known song "Great job" she told them as she lowered her hands at their final note before turning to the congregation to signal the end "Thank you" she said to the applause as they got louder, turning to see the choir looking pleased with themselves, and rightly so they'd worked hard

"Thank you choir" the Minister said smiling as he spoke "And now I'm told we have a song from Mrs Evans" he announced as Mercy spun round to look at him taking time to check out Madge and Mrs Luwizhu who she knew had something to do with that "Mrs Evans" the Minister called again as the congregation quietened down to listen.

Mercy stood wondering what to sing for a few seconds, looking at Sam who was encouraging her "Okay I guess I'll sing maybe **'Wait on You' by Janice Gaines** what do you think?" she asked Sam

"Good choice" he said raising an eyebrow while wondering what the mystery in her voice was all about

"I guess this will be as good an introduction as any" she smiled "This is Sam; my husband, and Naphtali and Joseph our children" she pointed at them saying "Come on family back me up" she said as the music started, and they went to join her as she sung and they joined in, faces in the audience making her smile as everyone started clapping and praising when they finished

The Church sermon was focused on coming together, regardless of differences, making Sam smile every now and again. Church carried on until well into 2 pm, when everyone finally piled out, the main topic of point was Mr & Mrs Evans and their family that had come to rule the town

"Nappi" Jo shouted, as he noticed her standing talking to a group of people, the two boys of the outfit kicking dirt as they spoke and smiled at her, she quickly said bye and went to him "What are you doing? Get in the car" he said watching her move towards him before turning to his Dad "You decided to take one for the team then?" he asked nodding to his Mom, who was clearly in a mood

"Yeah" he half smiled as he opened the car door for everyone to get in

"Really Sam?" Mercy asked when they finally got in the car

"Really what?" he asked

"Is this how you really want to live for the next two years, not knowing which are fake or true friends, because now you know everyone's going to be sucking up for what they can get, and all because you saw fit to let this particular cat out of its bag"

"Can we have this conversation when we get back babe?" Sam asked looking at the children as he spoke, Mercy said nothing she was too mad to say even okay she just stared at him and threw her purse on her lap making him know she hadn't finished, the children sat acting as if nothing had been said

They got home and Mercy headed straight to their bedroom, Sam spoke to the children, before finding his way to their bedroom "Remember Dad, you're taking one for the team" Jo shouted after him

"I'm always the one to take it for the team" Sam replied throwing a cushion at him

"You finally made it then?" Mercy said as he walked through the bedroom door

"Yeah" he said wanting to roll his eyes at her obviousness but knew better "Mercy I didn't mean to spot us up it's just that Megan was coming on a bit strong, ready to offer herself on a damn plate, when she offered I said no and asked her if she knew who my wife was, mainly to put things into perspective for her"

"Surely the correct response at that point would have been I love my wife" Mercy butted in

"I'd already said that on several occasions, she wasn't listening"

"Remember I told you I love my wife? that might have been a damn option"

"Mercy, the full plate was there I panicked and more or less told her she'd feel some of your mad if she carried on and, before I knew it the rest came rolling out, I know I messed up and I'm sorry"

"Sorry enough to hide it from for what 3 days?"

"Mercy please don't go where I know you're going with this"

"Where am I going Sam?"

"I don't want to say" he said holding his head down because he knew it was coming "Can we just … Can we just sit down babe, and just be quiet" he asked unable to find anything to say to stop this conversation ' _shit why didn't I see this perspective when I made this fool proof fucking plan'_ "Before one of us says something we don't mean?"

"No Sam, what else are you hiding from me?"

"There it is" he said under his breath rolling his eyes "Babe on my life I hide nothing from you, please stop this we don't need this just hours before you leave, I swear on our family values I hide nothing" he sat heavily on the bed saying as he held his hand out to her "Come sit with me babe"

"I said no" she said going up an octave as Sam sat, knowing he'd have to wait for her to climb down off this particular ceiling herself, listening to her get more and more ridiculous all in the name of pissed of for having to leave her family again, watching her inflict pain on herself for being who they all wanted her to be, but understanding her guilt and ensuring she got a safe place to vent that every time "Sam!" she shouted when she realised he was somewhere else "Are you even listening to me?"

"I am babe but I've nothing to say, I wished this for you and I'm sorry"

"What are you sorry about?"

"Doing that damn video, encouraging you to take up that record deal, letting you go every time, everything"

"Why?" she asked concerned

"Because I'm sitting here watching you now putting yourself through all this because you think it's what I want, babe and it hurts my heart to see you like this"

"I don't regret any of it, especially the bits of this you made possible for me, I just hate that I don't get the best of both worlds all at the same time I long for the day when going to work will include seeing you guys when I want. I just feel like I miss out on so much, I don't want to seem ungrateful for everything you guys have put on hold for me to have this" she grabbed him saying "I just need to calm down a bit" she looked at him saying seemingly going into panic mode "And count my blessings yeah?" she asked looking into his eyes "sing to me Sam"

"What now?" he asked trying to keep up with her rant

"Please babe, I need to calm down" she begged "I can't keep doing this, it's consuming me, us"

"Babe don't beg I'll sing you something" he told her, cupping her face as she moved closer to him her body requesting to he held, which he did as he took his phone out and found one of his signature songs and pressed play, wrapping her in his arms and started singing. He felt her relax in his arms as he sung low to the song almost in lullaby mode calming her down

 **"The Point Of It All" by Anthony Hamilton  
**

I _can't stay away from you too long, e_ _ven if I do I'll always call, c_ _hecking on you make sure you're ok, b_ _e the one to brighten up your day_  
 _And the point of it all,_ _Is I love you, yeah, y_ _ou know I love you baby oh_  
 _My days seem long whenever we're apart, i_ _t's like someone had thrown away my heart, y_ _ou're a major part of my life_  
 _And no matter what the storm may bring,_ _I'm fine with you,_  
 _And the point of it all,_ _Is I love you, a_ _nd the reason for it all,_ _Is I love you_  
 _O I love_ _O I love you_ _O my love, Ooohh_  
 _I can't stay away too long,_ _I can't stay away from you baby, d_ _on't wanna be without you,_ _I need you,_ _O why don't you stay around for awhile_  
 _And the point of it all, a_ _nd the point of it all, a_ _nd the point of it all, a_ _nd the point of it all,_ _Ohhohh, and the reason for it all_ _And the point of it all,_

 _Is that I love you, y_ _eah, I love you_  
 _Whenever we're apart, i_ _t damn near starves my heart, a_ _nd I don't ever want to be apart_

"That was beautiful babe" she hugged into him saying "I miss you Sam"

"I miss you too, but we know this is temporary, come on love, be happy" he smiled "You're going to see all those beautiful people in Europe who love you nearly as much as we do"

"I know, and I love them back, honestly but I need you guys too"

"Come on let's get some late lunch and go back to bed for an hour or so" he suggested

"Okay" she agreed but he still waited until she made the first move

Dinner was had, bedtime was taken, bags were loaded and everyone went off to the airport to see her off, lots of crying and Sam holding things together, and then she was gone, Mercy was at work, Sam was at work and Mrs Luwizhu had been back begging for her job with lots of apologies and gifts for the children, she finally convinced Sam that a school atmosphere would be good for the children and she'd let them study their set work after school as they didn't do anything in the evenings except internet shopping and gaming. Sam checked it out and reported back to Mercy who finally agreed and by week two they were at St Andrew's school travelling nearly 40 miles round trip every day but making new friends fast


	3. Chapter 3

**Joseph**

"Akeem, what do I do with this?" Joseph asked holding up his bowl with left over Fufu and egg in it, this had been their third day in school and they were still learning names and making friends, this joker Akeem had been the life and soul of the place and had introduced himself to them on their first day and sort of taken them under his wing

"Pass it boy, you don't know what good food is" he laughed grabbing the plate "I need to speak to you too about Naphtali"

"What about her?" Jo ears sprung up asking, his defences already up

"Nothing like that boy, she wanted to join the dance team but she said I needed to speak to you first" he smiled "She does some good moves"

"Yeah she used to be a cheerleader back in America" he smiled

"So she wants to dance, can you do anything?"

"Yeah I play football and I sing I guess"

"Let's hear you" Akeem said half not believing him

"What here?" he asked looking around the food hall

"You've seen others do it yeah here, up there" he said pointing to the assembly stage at the bottom of the hall

"I don't know" Jo said looking around

"Hey Guys" Akeem shouted out, making Jo jump "Jo here wants to sing for us, is that alright?" he asked as everyone clapped

"I didn't actually say I would" he told Akeem unsure how he was going to get out of it

"The crowd's asking you to" he said looking smugly back at him as Jo got up and took his phone out to find a song, he was all about rap but he didn't think they'd appreciate that right now he needed something soft he was searching through when a message came from Nappi saying **'Your World' by Chris Brown** he looked up found her in the room and smiled as she walked towards the music system and plugged her phone in for him, she knew he wouldn't have that on his phone, while he searched for the words on his

"On the fly as Mom would say" she told him as she pressed play and went back to her seat "Kill it" she shouted at him and sat back

Jo looked around the room as the intro played nervously, then started singing his version of the song getting more confident as he went along "Thanks Mom" he whispered to himself when he got to the end

"Ola" Akeem shouted across the room, when Jo finished "You have your lead singer" he said as everyone clapped Jo's performance

"Jo" Ola walked towards him saying as he went red at the sight of her, she was a beautiful brown princess with deep brown eyes, full lips, the most perfect nose, hair flowing down her back and no it wasn't weave, perfect body wrapped in red, yellow and green material and such a look of innocence about her he just needed to make her naughty "I'm Ola and I'd like to grab you before anyone else gets to zone in on your talent, will you join our group?" she smiled showing the most perfectly white teeth as she spoke through those lush lips

"And boy, that's my sister" Akeem told him stopping his drool

"Nice to meet you Ola" Jo said putting his hand out for shaking, hoping he'd feel that electricity shit his Dad talked about all the while

"You too" she said dismissing his hand looking at her brother _'Shit he's got the same chains on her as I've got on Nappi'_ he thought smiling for this protective brother syndrome they'd inherited while wondering how the girls he'd been semi-familiar with got out of the grasp of their brothers, concluding that they couldn't have had one because no way was he ready to let Nappi go and this right here just proved that to him

"I'd have no problem joining your group, I love to sing" he said remembering she'd asked him a question a while ago _'I'm not about to dis this man's sister while he's holding up on mine, I need to put this one firmly in the friend zone'_ he told himself smiling back at them

Two days later and he still hadn't given Akeem an answer on Nappi's dance thing, Dad was busy thinking about work and Mom, Jo really didn't want to take this to him right now with everything else. Dad got just as stressed when Mom was away as she got being away, he'd have his moments when he'd bang about and not speak or snap at the nearest victim, Nappi tended to take the snapping as he'd calm down as soon as he looked at her and maybe saw Mom or something but whatever it was she got him calmed down quicker that he could. The thing was he'd developed feelings for Ola and he was concerned that Nappi spending time with Akeem might do the same thing for them, he had no intentions of acting on them but they were there, he hadn't bargained for finding someone he'd care about on this trip, feelings weren't factored in and now here they were

"Who is it?" his Dad asked as he came into the room. Looking at Jo's worried face

"Who's who?" Jo asked stalling for time as Sam looked at his son telling him he could read his damn mind with his eyes

"Akeem's sister Ola" he replied rolling his eyes "He wants Nap to join his dance squad and I'm stalling because I don't need him having feelings for my sister, but I'm a fraud because I have them for his"

"Are they the stop the world I need this to happen before another second goes by sort of feelings?"

"She looked good Dad" he said rolling his eyes for his Dad's drama

"Is that it, she looked good?"

"Yeah isn't that enough?"

"No not really, I mean yeah your Mom looked good, still looks good even" he smiled "But I looked at her and I saw home, grey hair, slipper and grandchildren the lot and when you see your life mapped out like that so vividly you just know"

"Truth" Jo laughed "I saw lips, sex and more sex"

"You need to start your to do list son" Sam nudged him saying "Anything you think you might want to try write it down no matter how bazaar, and share it with your wife on your wedding day, greatest present ever" he smiled "And son" he said grabbing his attention "Leave that girl alone and trust your sister" he said getting up

Jo went to school the following day and agreed for Nappi to join the dance group

 **Naphtali**

Naphtali was in her mood again, she really missed her Mom when she wasn't around, it wasn't like they were tied at the hip or anything when she was younger, she'd not been around that much when she was a baby enough for them to be that tight then and when she was around she spread herself thinly trying to be everything to everyone. Things had changed once she reached double figures they were a clan and she was proud of the part she had in being a part of that, she was confident that her family loved her, she felt it every day of course as a teenager in her earlier days she, like every other stroppy teenager, had cursed the day fame found her Mom and sent her on that guilt trip that resulted in her agreeing to take five years out to be with them

In most ways it had been a really great four years, Mom was always around for school stuff, they got to spend time at the studio with her as well as the business with their Dad, he was so funny, he'd always found a way to make her laugh when she was struggling with the periods, spots, boob changes even pubic hair, he wasn't phased by any of it, he'd either sit down and talk facts or get on the computer and skype Mom getting Jo out the way for us to have our time.

She was at lunch when she realised she really didn't want to eat any more fufu, got up and left the hall. Of course Jo zoned in on her but she signalled she was going to the bathroom and he relaxed enough for her to leave the hall, on her way she'd seen a room with a ballet rail in it and thought she'd check it out on her way back

She walked into the room and it felt like home, she needed to dance she plugged her ear phones in searched her tunes and found **'Power' by Little Mix** she set it up and started dancing freestyle as the music played suddenly she heard a beat that she didn't think was in the song, carrying on dancing for a while before she concluded that it was clapping, she looked around the room to see two guys standing watching her "Can I help you?" she asked looking around the room praying that Jo would turn up because she felt vulnerable as she took her earphones out

"We run a dance class in here and well we came to prepare the room but you were in it" the taller of the two guys said

"Sorry we're being rude I'm Akeem and this is my cousin Lex" he smiled stretching his hand out for shaking

"I'm Naphtali and I have to get back to my brother could I get past?" she asked walking towards them as they stood at the door

"Do I need to ask your brother?" Akeem asked her

"Ask him what?"

"If you can join our dance group" Lex replied

"Yes" she said as she slipped through them and left the hall, a smile on her face Akeem was strikingly handsome he had a well-kept light beard, square cut low hair, eyes that pealed your clothes off, lips you'd want all over you and those damn bowed legs, she rolled her eyes thinking "Mom would say not everlasting attributes" she laughed saying as she walked back to the dinner hall saw Jo zoned on the door obviously anxious for her return and said it all with his look as she smiled back at him "And Jo says forget it" she said collapsing back into her chair, on the girls table

Two days on and this guy was still going on about her joining his dance group and she hadn't picked up the guts to ask Jo about any of it, she could hear him shouting already and Dad was bad enough but when Jo got on one, he made Dad look like a damn armature no way was anything going down without her having a conversation with him first "Come on Nap grow a pair or something" she got up from the dining table saying as she walked over to where she knew Jo was sitting to see Akeem sitting next to him talking "Shit" she said diverting to the exit to find the bathroom

That had been two days ago and still he hadn't said anything to her about it, maybe they weren't even talking about her, Jo was looking at her more not like she'd done anything just thinking. The next morning she got up to Jo doing the breakfast alone, that never happened he always woke her up to help "You alright Jo?" she asked concerned

"I am" he turned to her saying "Nap do you like dancing?" he asked

"Yeah I thought it was cheerleading but no it's dancing, why?" she asked

"Akeem asked me if you could join, thanks for directing him to me by the way, you didn't really need to, remember Dad said for you to try it alone for a while"

"I don't want to be doing things alone I like that you've got my back" she smiled at him

"If you want to do it that's fine with me" he smiled "I love you you know I don't ever want you hurt"

"I love you too Bro" she smiled "And thanks for the trust and stuff" she hugged him saying "how's Dad?" she pulled away from him asking

"He's good, Mom's back in ten days" he smiled "I'll tell Akeem first thing" he smiled giving her a plate with some eggs and bacon on

 **Joseph**

The conversation with Akeem was a lot harder than Jo had envisaged, he'd said it out loud "It's fine Nappi can do the dancing thing, it's the same day as choir isn't it?" he'd asked and gone straight to panic mode thinking he hadn't confirmed that before he'd said yes and what the hell was he going to do if it was a different day _'_ _She's not going to go he's tricked me into this, she's not going to go'_

"Yeah it's Wednesdays straight after school for maybe an hour tops" Akeem said smiling "Don't stress" he laughed tapping Jo on the shoulder "Just walk in and warn everyone off and that will be sorted" he said his arm moving from his shoulder resting on his other shoulder as he moved Jo to walk with him

"What are you doing?" Jo asked shaking his arm off him laughing _'_ _We are not friends Dude you touch my sister and I'll show you how much we are not friends'_ he thought walking beside him as they entered the dinner hall

"Sorry" Akeem said looking at Jo trying to make out his reaction

"I'm not after your sister Boss seriously" he turned to Jo telling him

"Okay" Jo smiled as he opened the door for Akeem to walk in "Nappi" he shouted as his eyes found her "Come here a minutes please" he said his arms waving his command over the noise in the place

"What?" she asked smiling as she went towards him

"I just gave the okay to Akeem so it's Wednesday evenings after school the same day as choir is that alright?"

"That's fine, thanks Bro" she smiled happy for that bit of freedom as Joe looked behind her to see Ola coming

"You friends with Ola?" he asked Nappi

"Not friends as such but I think she's attached herself" Nappi replied

"Jo" Ola called out as every hair on his body stood up "Hold up" she asked as his head bounced up to see what she wanted "I thought we could maybe do a song together like a duet or something to introduce you to the group" she smiled

"Yeah we can do that" he smiled back looking back at Nappi for her grin "What?" he asked her

"Lust" she smiled "I've seen that look on you before" she giggled

"It will go no further, I don't want him around you" he assured her as Nappi gave her 'Really' look "Yeah really" he told her

 **Back together again**

So everyone got into what they were doing, Jo and Nappi seemed even closer than they were before, they'd made friends with most of the guys in their after school groups. The day before Mercy's return and everyone was on hot bricks, Jo needed a hug, Nappi needed to talk and Sam needed his wife and they all knew how to pull rank on the need thing but Mercy didn't need to feel like they found it hard to live without her because then the next time would be so much harder, and thrown into that mix was her needs too. So of course they'd always sit back and let her lead on what the priorities were, she was like a whirlwind once she started

"Let's try something new" Sam said to the children "I think Nappi should go first this time" he said making Jo look up

"Alright" he replied

"What just like that?" Sam asked him for how easy that was

"Yeah I sort of spoke to you about things but I know Nap hasn't spoken to anyone yet so she can have Mom first, we'll push it" he replied

"Thanks guys" she smiled

"But I'm taking the middle spot, if you have that I won't speak to her until tomorrow" Jo laughed saying

"That's fine" Sam told him "Now bed guys we've got to be up at 3 am to get to the airport"

"Five hours is it worth it?" Nappy asked

"Yep" they both said together making her laugh before she moved off and went to bed

Sam was up for most of the five hours, his head hit the pillow at 10.30 and sprung back up at 11.45 and he was up until it was time to leave, getting the twins up at 3.00 and making their way to the airport for the 20 minute wait for Mercy to arrive

"Hi Clan" she screamed as she came through check out and saw them all standing there crying before they could answer her, her stare focused on Sam but her arms reaching out for the children as she focused, Sam smiled he knew he was saying exactly the same thing as she was. The children grabbed their hugs and kisses and stood either side of her while Sam went in and hugged her stepping away to allow the children their time, they each grabbed an arm and stepped off as he grabbed the trolley with her cases on, the driver stacked them and they got in the car, Sam sitting on the seat opposite Mercy and the children just watching them compete for their Mom's attention, knowing he was going to have the last laugh

"Are you alright Sam" she said jolting him out of his thoughts

"Yeah Babe, just watching my happy Clan, makes me happy you know" he smiled

"God I missed you all" she said hugging the children in as she looked at Sam, need in her eyes making him smile as the sound of the children drowned out the speechless conversation they were having, until they were home "Breakfast" she said walking towards the kitchen as everyone followed, seeing Nappi's opportunity Sam announced

"We'll go get your bags and stuff put them in the bedroom" he said as Jo and he left the kitchen

 **Mercy & Naphtali**

"So" Mercy spun round saying grabbing Nappi's attention "What's happening for my baby girl?" she looked at the door asking "Before those two come back" she smiled "How's school I mean really?"

"School's good Mom, I'm in this dance class after school on Wednesdays, it's not cheerleading" she smiled "Actually it's better it's real dancing" she smiled wider "Jo's still letting up and I feel a bit freer but he's at Choir practice on the same day so I don't really get that freedom him and Dad keep talking about but I guess I'm fine about that"

"So you don't get to showcase that beautiful voice of yours?"

"I think my focus has shifted" she smiled

"Who is he?" Mercy asked with her hands reaching her waist as her head tilted in suspense

"His name's Akeem and Mom he's got to be the single most cutest guy in the school, I'm sure he likes me back but I can't make a move and he won't make one either" she told her Mom as they moved from the cooker over to the table to talk more in depth

"What kinds of moves are we talking about here sweetheart?"

"Maybe buy me lunch" she said with attitude

"Why won't he?"

"Because he's warned Jo off his sister I think, and I know Jo's warned him off so it's like you don't touch mine I won't touch yours stuff going on and I dare not put a broken egg in that basket" she laughed

"So what's the plan?" Mercy asked as heads got closer together

"It's going to take a while but I'm hoping to talk Dad and then Jo round to my way of thinking"

"Good luck with that" Mercy laughed "And I know we don't need to revisit the family promise on this" she got up saying turning to look back at Nappi when she got back to the oven

"Goes without say" Nappi smiled

"So what else?" Mercy asked as Nappi took her through the full four weeks of events, what Mrs Madge said to Mrs Luwizhu and how their identity was some sort of top secret thing because they didn't want everyone treating them different at school, about her new friends at school, conversations with her Grandparents, Uncles and Aunts across the waters and friends missed "Where are those two?" Mercy finally asked

"Is Breakfast ready?" Nappi asked jumping up to get the table set and call the guys, who didn't need calling twice, they all sat eating, talking, laughing and drinking. Mercy and Nappi carried on their conversation into the afternoon "I really missed you Mom" she said hugging her as they left the kitchen

"I love you too Baby, and Jo's been really good giving us time and stuff, but I really need to see him, if you don't mind"

"I don't mind at all, they let me go first this time" she laughed

"I knew you guys had planned this it's too orderly" Mercy laughed as they went out to the hall "Joe" she called as he came running as if he'd been waiting in the wings for her

"Mom" he said running towards her "My turn yeah?" he asked still attached to her chest

 **Mercy & Joseph **

"Fancy the shops?" Mercy asked him as he finally pulled away

"Yeah, well the walk" he smiled "I don't buy from shops Mom" he laughed as she grabbed her coat and they left the house

"So what's happening for my baby boy?" she asked as they shut the door

"Nothing and everything" he gave his I'm in love Evans smile saying

"Who is she?" Mercy asked rolling her eyes at him "You know this is Kenya and they probably chop tackle off for shit don't you?"

"I know the promise Mom, nothing like that" he turned to her to say walking backwards as he spoke "Plus she's got a brother who's just as Bad as me" he laughed "I spoke to Dad about it all, and he just said she wasn't the real thing this was just part of the lust thing, so I guess I'm sitting it out but these feelings are so strong"

"I thought Leigh at home was it for you?" Mercy laughed

"She was when I was at home, I'm out here now Mom, raging hormones the lot"

"Remember what we said about hearts not being toys"

"I know and that's part of the reason I've said nothing to her or him yet, I can't see myself staying here after Dad's job finishes or anything"

"So what's the plan?"

"I'm going to take Dad's advice he wouldn't tell me anything to hurt me" he said before his face broke out into a smile "He's a wise man" he said opening the shop door for his Mom

"Of course he is, he married me didn't he?" she laughed

"As I said wise" he stepped into the shop saying as they walked around playing with items and finally making a choice about some oranges before they paid for them and went back home to the garden to finished talking about his schooling, new friends, Nappi, Music and family. He was a level headed boy most the time but there were times when his Sam came out and although they loved those times in the home environment at school it could be a bit frustrating for him. Around 5 pm when it was time to eat Jo got up "Well Mom I think I've talked you out that was more than a month's worth" he laughed

"Dinner" Sam shouted making them smile

"I love it when we're all in tune" she said "The only guys in the world that actually get me"

Dinner was still full of chat and drama after all the talking they'd gotten in already, Sam sat opposite Mercy with Nappi beside him talking but watching, mainly Mercy's mouth as she pushed food into it and licked her lips, grabbing her bottom lip when she felt him watching her and giving a sneaky sexy look every now and again making him smile. He was at the point where he was actually licking his own lips having actually tasted hers in him mind

"Okay enough" Jo stood up saying as they jumped out of their trance

"What?" Sam said looking around the table

"What, Really?" Jo asked shaking his head "Come on Nap let's er wash up shall we?" he said getting up with two plates in his hand as Nappi picked the other two up and they left the table

 **Sam & Mercy**

"I don't know what those guys are talking about" Mercy smiled at Sam saying

"Me neither" he smiled back "So" he said getting up to go sit next to her "I'm guessing those two talked you out?" he asked as they sat together for the first time since her arrival 14 hours ago "I'm guessing your totally wrecked and need to be reminded that your home?" he said as Mercy nodded

"Totally" she smiled

"Totally?" he asked as she nodded yes "Okay lets get you sorted" he said grabbing her hand and pulling her up with him

"Sam" she said laughing

"Stop" he looked at her saying as she closed her mouth and let him do what he wanted to do. He sat her on their bed and went to the bathroom to run her a bath making sure to put lots of relaxant in it before going back to pin up her hair and remove her jewellery as she sat watching him. He eventually took her to the bathroom discarded of her clothes and put her in the bath while he ran water over her body as she lay soaking, then he sat watching her get into relax mode

"It's good to be home babe" she finally said as she lay there with her eyes shut, Sam smiled for her comment and went to get his guitar to play and sing her a song he smiled as he started singing his version of **'God, Your Mama and Me' by Florida Georgia Line**

"I believe it babe" she smiled as he went to give her a kiss at the end of his song to her

"Bed Mrs Evans" he said grabbing the towel and holding it up for her to step into

"Thanks babe" she said grabbing it to her with his arms attached walking him over to the bed "Sam I..."

"Shhh" he said putting her in bed before going to sort himself out and jump in himself, grabbing hold of her and pulling her into him

"God now I'm home" she said in her sleep, as he smiled and kissed her neck

"Goodnight" he told her resting his chin on her shoulder

"Goodnight" she replied still sleeping

 **Saturday**

"I didn't hear her vocal training last night?" Jo laughed

"I love hearing them it tells me everything's alright in my world" Nappi smiled

"Yeah I guess I feel that too, I just wish they'd maybe be embarrassed about it or something sometimes"

"What ashamed of us?" she asked

"No not us the damn noise they make" he laughed

"We were made from noises like those boy" Nappi laughed

"What do you know about stuff like that?" he smiled asking her

"What Mom tells me" she stood hand on hip telling him

"Attitude as well" he smiled staring at her "You're growing up girl" he said flicking her with the dishcloth

"So are you boy" she said flicking him back with hers

"Heard him singing last night though she must have been really tired" Jo said concerned

"Yeah should we do Breakfast in bed and see if Dad will let us go for a drive with Jus?" she smiled "We could maybe arrange to go see Akeem and Ola, what do you think?"

"What am I thinking, what are you thinking?" Jo asked his expression telling her he wasn't impressed

"Nothing just some young company"

"Hmm I guess" he smiled "We can try"

"What can you guys try?" Sam asked, his arms wrapped around Mercy as they walked into the kitchen

"We were thinking of giving you guys some time and maybe going over to see Akeem and Ola" Jo told his Dad

"How long are we talking?" Sam asked

"For the morning maybe we'd get back just in time for lunch" Jo told him Nappi taking care not to ring alarm bells by adding to the conversation

"That's... fineee.." Sam squeezed out looking at Mercy, smiling up at him "Yeah fine but back by 2 pm the latest" he said as the children moved off to plate up their breakfast, a smile on their faces that they dare not let the other see, as Jo sent the message to Akeem and ten minutes later as they sat eating smiled when they got the go ahead for the visit with address attached

 **The Visit**

"Hi" Akeem said as he met them at the gate

"Sorry the car has to wait for us" Jo told him giving a fist punch as he spoke

"Fine, come in" Akeem said moving to the side to let them in front of him "Meet our parents" he smiled guiding them to a door to the left of the front door "Mom, Dad" Akeem said "This is Joseph and Naphtali their Father works at Try-Bet" he told them as they got up to greet and chat with the children standing with their son

"Nice to meet you" they said shaking hands and smiling "Our home is your home" his Dad said looking back at Akeem

What time do you have to be back?" Akeem asked

"2 pm" Jo told him as they laughed and talked while his parents went back to what they were doing

"Do you want to see the house?" Akeem asked them

"Remember they have to be back by 2 pm so be mindful of the time" his Dad smiled at him saying before they left the room

"Wow" Jo said as they entered another door off the grand hall housing musical instruments and Ola

"Hello" she said running towards them with her arms open _'Shit she's going to hug me, can I keep this damn thing under control, check your damn face Akeem is definitely watching you right now'_ "Naphtali" she said grabbing hold of her "So great to see you, Hi Jo" she turned to say while she was still holding Nappi

"Hi" he said trying to not sound disappointed in his tone

"I've had the best idea" Ola said walking Nappi over to her space, Nappi looking back at Jo, her face saying she was well out of her depth with this false friend thing

"It's alright Nap" Jo smiled as Akeem and he followed the girls across the room

"Sit sit" Ola almost ordered, Nappi still not sure how to take her looked at smiling Jo again "I want to do a performance for the end of term at school" she announced

"Performance?" Akeem asked

"Yeah your team and mine get together and do some dance, sing thing for the whole school, what do you say?" she looked round at the three of them asking

"I don't want to do any lame school play stuff" Akeem said as Ola's chest deflated "If we're going to do it it's got to be up to date stuff and strictly dance and song" he smiled

"But we need a theme" Ola said excited that her brother was taking the suggestion on

"Just plain old end of school that's enough isn't it?" Akeem asked

"Okay" Ola clapped her hands saying "Will you sing a song Jo?"

"Yeah sure" he said uncertainly looking at Nappi, it was her turn to smile

"You'll be fine Jo" she said

"So that's two songs for this concert and you guys will do a couple of dances yeah?" Ola asked Nappi

"Yeah sure" she said looking at Akeem who was nodding his approval _'When did she start looking to him for approval?"_ Jo sat looking at her thinking

"Is that alright Jo?" he heard Nappi saying breaking his thought as he smiled back at her

"Yeah sure"

"Come on we'll show you guys round the house and you can meet the rest of the family" Akeem said getting up as everyone followed, he took them on the tour of the house, they met his grandparents and younger siblings, had something to eat and played some computer games before their driver knocked the door and it was time for them to leave

"Thank you for having us it's been great" Jo said as they all got to the door as Nappi nodded in agreement "School on Monday then?"

"Yeah Monday bye guys, thanks for coming" Akeem said as they stood waving them off until the car was out of sight

"That was enjoyable" Nappi said smiling as the car took them back home

"Yeah" Jo said as he sat back recalling every glance Ola had given him throughout the visit

"You like her don't you?" Nappi finally asked him

"I like them both why?"

"Doughy eyes Evans" she laughed

"Yeah she's nice"

"They're nice" she said lifting her eyebrow as she spoke

"Nappi Evans" he nudged her laughing "And that's as far as that goes" he said through his laugh "I let you go an inch and this is what happens, I'm speaking to Dad when we get back" he warned

"Jo" she sobered up shouting at him

"No Napp I'm lying, but seriously no further"

"What if he likes me back?"

"Family promise" he told her

"I'm never going to be sleeping with anyone until I'm married Jo, what do you take me for? I don't have a death wish" she laughed as he hugged her until they got home

 **Back Together**

"They're still in bed" Nappi announced as she walked into the empty kitchen

"Surprised" Jo laughed

"Lets Face time with Nan" Nappi snapped the laptop open saying as Jo went to sit with her at the table sending the request message and twenty minutes later Nan and Granddad Jones were sitting in their kitchen

"What's up guys?"

"Nothing just saying hi, Mom came back yesterday and of course their otherwise engaged, we just got back from our friends and..." they went into song and dance about life at their new school, friends they'd made and the up and coming concert thing it was nearly an hour gone past by the time they looked at the time again and they were rushing their goodbyes to try and fit in their other grandparents

"Say hello for us won't you?" their Granddad smiled

"Will do" they smiled before closing the call and making an identical call to Nan and Granddad Evans, taking just as much time on that call before closing it down looking towards the bedroom and seeing no movement

"Should we call Uncle Stevie?" Nappi asked

"No lets send a text, I'm starving" he said getting up to get to the cooker

"Hi guys" a sleepy Sam came into the kitchen saying "Sorry we lost track of time" he smiled "Mom's coming out to do you guys something to eat, let her will you?" he asked

"Sure" Jo said smiling as Mercy came into the kitchen fixing her hair

"Sorry guys I didn't know how tired I actually was" she smiled as Jo looked at Sam knowingly

"How was your visit?" Sam asked changing the subject on Jo's face

"Good" Nappi said excitedly "We're going to do like a concert for the end of term and I'll be dancing so you'll have to come"

"I'll be singing" Jo added

"Oh great we'll be there" Mercy said looking at Sam excited for the children mixing in well at their new school

"You're aware they don't know about our wrong family?" Jo asked

"I'm aware they're going to find out how right up their asses our family can get" Mercy told him, making them all laugh

Sunday went as usual with Mercy and the children at Church and Sam at work sorting some Sunday crisis out, Mercy suspicious about the authenticity of the problems but feeling safe enough to know that whatever it was Sam would handle it. Everyone was alright, the children more than enjoying school and their secret feelings that only their parents knew about, she didn't feel the need to tell Sam about Nappi, he'd go into stifling the children mode again, and she'd be left to deal with the unhappy household. Sam was borderline busy, his busiest day seemed to be Sundays, he'd never get to church and Megan was still trying it on from afar, so many times he's wanted to sack her but Mercy had talked him down and she was biding her time to snap that bitch. Mercy was writing for her next album, she was at full flow right now, which meant there was a drought coming and she was trying her best to get everything out before it came, the down side of that happening being she'd need to get back to America to get some writers involved so, more time away. Suddenly it was the day before half term and the concert evening was upon them, Sam and Mercy dressed to impress, Sam had visited the school before the children started, on a casual basis, actually he'd just turned up saying he was planning on sending his children there and wanted to have a look around. He was impressed that they just took him around they weren't phased and he saw some good stuff going on there, he'd come back and reported to Mercy and Mrs Luwizhu had taken it from there with the language barrier and stuff "You ready Sam" Mercy shouted from the closet

"Ready" he shouted back looking at the closet waiting for her to make her entrance "Spectacular" he said kissing her as she walked to him in her navy blue attire

"Let's go support our children" she smiled as he grabbed her to him and walked towards the door "I guess I missed this when we were at school my parents never came to any of our competitions" she looked at him saying "Too busy working I guess"

"Mine too, well looking for work" he smiled

"At least yours had a legitimate reason back then"

"I guess they all did" he smiled "I don't know why you always make such an effort putting it all on for me to rip it off hours later" he whispered in her ear as the car drove off

"You just love ripping Mr Evans" she replied with a cheeky grin

 **The Concert**

There were only minutes to spare once they got there, they found seats near the back and sat as everyone looked around at them "What?" Mercy asked one of the women looking on who turned back around abruptly, before she could say anything to Sam about it the room went dark and the spotlight came on focusing on a beautiful Nubian girl "Stunning" Mercy said as Sam looked at her

"Good evening everyone my name is Ola and I'd like to thank you all for coming out tonight for our concert, I hope we don't disappoint" she smiled as the music started and she sang her version of **'Many Things' by Keke Palmer** as everyone swayed along clapping at the end as she took her bows before announcing the next act. About three acts in they announced the dance section and Akeem and Nappi took centre stage with the rest of the crew as they did a sequenced dance to **'I know a place' by Muna** being sung by the group, Mercy and Sam were up clapping at the end waving and smiling at Nappi looking proud of herself. Mercy saw the look Nappi gave Akeem and looked up at Sam for signs of reaction but he didn't so she assumed he hadn't seen it.

Akeem came on stage unannounced and said he wanted to sing a song that had a special meaning to him, pulling Ola with him, on the first few bars Mercy knew the song and sat wondering why this boy would choose now to out himself as they listened to his version of **'Heaven' by Troye Sivan ft. Betty Who** "Shit" she said as she watched this boy looking at her son , making Sam look at her puzzled

"What?" he mouthed

"World war three" she mouthed shaking her head and looking back at the stage

Nappi was up front listening to Akeem do something she'd never heard him do before wondering how many talents this man had _'Wait did he say his face?'_ she asked herself looking at him again focusing on his eyes and noticing he was looking at Jo not her. She looked at Jo her face like thunder as he looked back at her his face in shock, he'd already made the connection _'he's gay?'_ was written all over her face

 _'I didn't know'_ written all over Jo's

Nappi sat quietly through the rest of the show got up and done her dances when she had to and sat at the other end of the line to where Ola, Akeem and Jo sat for the rest of the evening. Jo and Lex had the last song a very PC version of **'Congratulations' by Post Malone ft Quavo** everyone was up rocking except Nappi , Jo was laughing and singing on the outside but on the inside he was feeling Nappi's pain and to add to it she'd blocked him out of her mind.

The show finished and Jo was aware he had three things to do, speak to Nappi quick; he knew she thought all this was his fault, speak to Akeem how dare he mislead them like this and introduce his parents to the world, it was their first time together at school.

"Mom, Dad" he called as he walked towards them "I'll just introduce you to Akeem's parents I need to go speak to Nappi" he told them calling them to follow him. They found themselves standing in front of a very well dressed man who's eyes must have been crossed because he wasn't looking at them he was visually over the other side of the room

"Jo" they heard and turned to see Akeem standing there "You can't do this" he told him, as Sam and Mercy linked hands a sarcastic smile on their faces

"Do what?" Jo asked

"Introduce those people to my parents"

"They're not people they're my parents" Jo smiled

"Whatever they are we don't do that here" Sam heard making his eyes roll and his blood boil but it was Mercy who spoke first

"Hold up you just told the whole damn school, not only that you were gay but that you had feelings for my son and the only thing of importance to your parents is us standing here?" she asked "Never mind my daughters broken heart"

"What?" Sam asked trying to keep up with this conversation that had gone way past congratulations on your performance

"Oh and by the way my son's straight" Mercy said looking at Akeem and his parents standing there listening but not looking at them

"I'm sorry Mom, Dad but Nappi's a priority for me right now I got to go find her" Jo said leaving his parents to fight the current fight, finding her sitting listening to Ola speaking to her he walked up behind them hoping she was getting through to her

"My brother liked yours and he asked me to befriend you guys so he could get closer, I'm sorry I did that because we became really good friends or so I thought" she said touching Nappi's hand "I hope we can stay friends, I know your brother likes me but I'm promised to someone already so that will never happen"

"You're not really our friends are you?" Jo shouted as both girls looked round "It's not right to treat people this way, it's not right and its not nice Ola, you and Akeem are..." he trailed off thinking he was becoming just as bad as them "Nappi come on" he said using his head to tell her to come "Nappi" he shouted when she didn't move

"Leave me alone Jo" she looked at him saying with hate in her voice

"It's not my fault Akeem liked me I don't like him back, you now I don't Nap" he said as she came towards him

"Leave me alone Jo" she said again stepping past him and leaving the room

"Jo" he heard as he watched his sister run out the room and looked at the other door to see Akeem standing there "I'm really sorry man I..."

"Akeem, I'm not judging you for who you want to be, that's totally your business but Dude that's not me, I like girls I mean really like girls, so whatever you conjured up in your head stays in your head is that clear?" he smiled "And the way you reacted to my family, seriously I don't think your the kind of person I need to be my friend, so lets just agree to breath the same air if we have to yeah?"

"I hear you" Akeem said defeated as he watched Jo walk out the door his sister had left through a short while ago , to go find his parents

"Good, come on we've been waiting for you guys" Sam said as Jo walked towards them "Where's Nappi?" he asked looking behind Jo

"She came out before me I thought she came to you guys I was dealing with Akeem" Jo said looking around the room "I'll just go check the other rooms" he said feeling panicked, Nappi always told him where she was going, if not verbally she'd give him access to her mind but right now nothing no matter how he begged she just wouldn't let him in. He walked around the school checking the classrooms, bathrooms and cupboards and found nothing, totally out of his comfort zone now he returned to his parents "She's not here I can't find her" he told them almost crying "She's not letting me in, she's telling me nothing" he said as his Dad grabbed his shoulder

"She'll be fine" he told him looking at Mercy saying something completely different in his eyes "Okay maybe she's in the car" he suggested as all three made their way outside to find an empty car

"It's a clear 40 minute drive home how the hell is this girl thinking of making her own damn way home?" Mercy asked as Sam and Jo looked at her unable to answer "Now girl you might keep Jo out, and we all know sometimes we need to do that shit, but you'll answer me right now" she said as Jo looked at his Dad wondering what was going on

"We talk like that too" Sam told him bringing a smile to Jo's face

"And there's me thinking it's a twin thing" he smiled "Anything Mom?" he asked

"No" Mercy said as Jo ran back in to find Akeem and Ola

"They know the area they might know where she'll be" he told them as he ran back in, emerging minutes later with Akeem and his family "They said it's not safe out here"

"Well we would have guessed that shit" Mercy barked totally pissed at the useless information "Anywhere in Kenya isn't safe for someone born and bred in America" she said brushing Sam's hand off her as he tried to calm her down "Don't shush me" she looked back at him saying, he just looked at her his eyes sad and his heart heavy "I'm going to drive around see if I see her anywhere she can't be far" she said stepping into the waiting ride

 _'I'll wait here safest place right now'_ Sam thought

"Yeah it is" she replied turning to smile at him "Sorry" she said while he nodded his head telling her he understood

"Jo go with your Mom" he turned to him saying as Jo ran past him and got in the car, his face worried

Three hours later and the school was closed, the police were out looking for Nappi and Mercy and Jo were crying "Take them home" the officer told Sam who felt more comfortable dealing with them in the officer's presence than taking them home where he'd have to deal with both of them performing. An hour later and he'd finally persuaded them to take the journey home to wait for word from the police, the ride home was quiet except for the emotional outbursts, Mercy sounding like her soul had been removed, Jo trying to act normal and not knowing what that was without his other half, it was all Sam could do to keep his face dry by wiping his tears away as they presented and telling himself everything was going to work out fine. It seemed like an eternity before they were back home as they piled out of the car and into the house looking around and everything they saw reminded them of Nappi bringing tears Sam could restrain himself no longer he joined in and cried like a baby for his baby. "Come on" Mercy finally said some time late in the night when it became apparent no one was going to find sleep just now with Nappi missing "Lets sing" she said getting up and grabbing Jo's hand as he looked at his Dad wondering how the hell singing was going to help "Just go with what's in your heart" she told him as she sat at the piano

He sat for a few minutes before he came up with " **Safe Inside' by James Arthur"** he shouted as Mercy nodded and started playing the piano as Jo started singing sitting by his Mom resting his head on her shoulder as he sang

"I know this might not be the time, I even know what your going to say" Sam looked at them saying, when they finished singing "But what the hell is going on, why has Nap run away?" he asked raking his hand through his hair frustrated

"Because she's in love with Akeem" Jo told him as Mercy looked on

"And what he doesn't love her back, she's slept with him what?" Sam stood asking "I need details"

"He just sung that song to me tonight telling me he loved me Dad, he's gay"

"Ha" Sam said looking at Mercy "If Nappi wasn't missing this would be so damn funny" he told her

"What?" Jo asked not getting what his Dad was saying

"She'll get over it" Mercy said "I just worry for how far she'll go before she does" she added as Sam's mind went into overdrive "What's up?" she asked him unable to read his thought

"Nothing I have hope" he smiled

"What?" Jo asked, he seemed to be saying that a lot right now

"I want to sing **'I have this Hope' by Tenth Avenue North** for Nappi" he looked at Jo saying as Mercy started playing the tune and he picked has guitar up and tearfully sang his song, Jo hugged him afterwards and Sam held his son while he cried again for his sister "She's alright Jo, she'll be back when she's calmed down, she just doesn't know how to control it yet" he told him "You're her level but right now it's about you so she's just having difficulty dealing with things alone" he told him, unsure where that had come from but knew it was the truth

"She'll be back?" he looked up at his Dad asking

"She will" he told him "Go freshen up and lay down rest your body I just need to talk to Mom for a bit" he lifted him off his chest saying "We'll call you if we hear anything or when we've finished" he told him as Jo went over to hug his Mom before leaving the room

"What?" Mercy asked for his stare

"Lets begin" he sat next to her saying as she looked at him "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing" Mercy answered quickly

"You're too calm, what did she say? He stared at her asking "Mercy"

"I just get that she's alright that's it" she smiled

"Okay" he said "I feel your pain babe, and I hate that you feel you have to lie to me to protect me from something like this, so tonight you're going to tell me because we're gonna hurt together" he told her not leaving her eyes once as Mercy told him her vision about their daughter sitting in some dark corner scared, shaking and a shadow coming over her, she saw her face she heard a scream and she refuses to go past that "I don't see her harmed" he got up saying "She's fine" he said not looking back

"Yeah she's fine" Mercy said preferring to believe Sam's version than let her mind find dark corners she'd found

"Stop it" he walked back into the room saying for her thoughts "Jo's nearly sleeping I thought I'd leave him be" he smiled "She's fine"

"Promise?"

"She's fine, we have to go with what we feel yeah?"

"Yeah she's fine"


	4. Chapter 4

**Sunday**

"Dad" he heard, waking up on the couch to Jo standing over him with a hot drink in his hand "Drink this" he told him as Sam sat up and took the cup

"Thanks son" he said looking round the room "Where's your Mom?"

"Bathroom"

"Any news?"

"No" Jo replied looking at the door "It's just 6 am"

"I'll just do my thing and we'll get back out there" he said putting the drink down to find the bathroom and Mercy "Babe" he said grabbing hold of her "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"No I was too stressed about Nappi to even think about closing my eyes"

"She's fine I feel it, we're going to be alright" he told her hugging her

"Is she" Mercy fell into his chest asking

"She is"

"Promise"

"I'm gonna get dressed and we can go back out" he said letting her go to find the bathroom. He was ready in 30 minutes and she was packed with bacon sandwiches ready for the morning outdoors. Jo grabbed his coat and they headed to the door, opening it to find Nappi standing there with John from church

"Nappi" Mercy screamed as Sam and Jo stood speechless "John where did you find her" she asked grabbing hold of Nappi as she spoke

"She was in my village walking round at night, lucky for her I just finished street singing and was heading home, I don't have transport or phone so I kept her till daylight" he smiled "Sent word to Mr Ravi this morning and he sent a car to bring us here"

"Mr Ravi as in Akeem and Ola?" Jo asked tears in his eyes for his sister's return

"Come in, come in" Sam said moving out the way to let them get in

"Daddy" Nappi said running to him "I'm sorry I know I did wrong and I'm sorry" right now he had nothing to say he was too busy thanking god and all the angels above for her safe return, he grabbed hold of her looking at Mercy, thankfulness on his face.

"Nap" Jo said still upset and although she looked at him her face was expressionless "Nap it wa..." he got out before Sam held his hand up stopping him from carrying on with his conversation

"Do you want to go with Mom and get cleaned up" he asked his daughter who was still clinging to him, he pulled her off his chest to look in her face "Go with Mom yeah?" he asked as she nodded she would and Mercy took her while Sam turned his attention to John "Thank you so much John is it?" he said offering his hand out for shaking

"They're nice children Mr Mercy" he replied taking the handshake

"My name's Sam" he told him still holding his hand

"Some round these parts will frown on this family but Mrs Mercy has a good heart and they will see that"

"Thank you" Sam smiled "can I get you something to drink or eat?"

"No, I have to go they need the car back to get to church" he smiled "Hope to see you in church this week" he said as Sam thanked him again and he was gone

"Church what do you think Son?" he asked Jo

"We have a lot to be thankful for today" he said "We should"

 **Mercy & Naphtali**

"So what happened sweetheart?" Mercy asked as she settled Nappi into the hot bath and sat watching her

"Am I pretty Mom?" she asked

"You're past pretty baby you're beautiful" she said as she watched her

"I don't feel pretty, I don't have make up on or wear dresses, heels you know all that stuff I don't, and that's why no boys take me seriously" she said before she started crying again splashing the water with frustration

Mercy sat thinking how to approach this situation and started humming **'Try' by Colbie Caillat** Nappi took the bate and started singing

 _ **Nappi**_

 _Put your make up on, get your nails done, curl your hair, run the extra mile  
Keep it slim, so they like you. Do they like you?  
Get your sexy on, don't be shy, girl, take it off, this is what you want, to belong  
So they like you. Do you like you?  
You don't have to try so hard, you don't have to give it all away  
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up, you don't have to change a single thing  
You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i, you don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i  
You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i, you don't have to try  
Yoooou don't have to try, Ooooo, oooooo, oooooo...  
 **Mercy**  
Get your shopping on, at the mall, max your credit cards you don't have to choose,  
Buy it all, So they like you. Do they like you?  
Wait a second, why should you care, what they think of you when you're all alone, by yourself  
Do you like you? Do you like you?  
You don't have to try so hard, you don't have to give it all away  
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up, you don't have to change a single thing  
You don't have to try so hard, you don't have to bend until you break  
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up, you don't have to change a single thing  
 **Both**  
You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i, You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i  
You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i, You don't have to try  
You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i, You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i  
You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i, You don't have to try, Yoooou don't have to try  
Oooooo, oooooo, Oooooo, oooooo  
You don't have to try so hard, you don't have to give it all away_

 _You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up, you don't have to change a single thing  
You don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i, you don't have to try, try, try, try-i-i  
You don't have to try, you don't have to try  
Take your make up off, let your hair down, take a breath  
 **Nappi:** Look into the mirror, at yourself, Don't you like you?  
 **Mercy:** Cause I like you _

"So do you like you, cos I love you" Mercy said when they finished

"I don't know Mom" she said bursting into tears again, Mercy let her cry for while "I guess I felt like a fool, I mean who falls in love with a gay guy?" she splashed her hands in the water helplessly asking

"I do" Mercy told her making her head shoot up "Yep I fell hook line and sinker for Uncle Kurt back in the day"

"Uncle Kurt?" she asked a giggle coming out her mouth "Your just saying that anyone can see he's Fabulous" she smiled

"Not everyone I didn't see it, I hit him when he told me he fancied someone else, well not him his Dad's car" she laughed "And we're still best friends"

"Fair play, but Mom what scared me the most was the hate I felt for Jo" she stared at her Mom saying "I love him I know I do but for a while I saw him as the enemy and I couldn't deal with him being my other half and my enemy and I just freaked big time"

"Where are you with that now?"

"I need my brother, I know he's going to shout at me big time for blocking him out and stuff, but I'll take that over this feeling every time" she smiled "And I'm never leaving home again, unless you guys buy me my own pad" she giggled

"I guess you need to stick with the never leaving home thing" Mercy laughed making her laugh too "I hope you felt the love all the time you were out there"

"I heard you shout at me"

"Next time at least tell us you're alright" Mercy said throwing the flannel at her laughing "You are alright though aren't you baby girl?"

"I'm fine Mom honestly I just need to speak to Jo"

"You know once he's stopped stressing Dad's going avatar on this right?"

"I'm going to use my baby green eyes and banging Mommy looks to soften him up" she laughed

"Holla if you need help" she smiled throwing her a towel to dry off with. Nappi got dressed and went to Jo's room, she needed to speak to him quick and apologise

 **Sam & Joseph**

"Dad I still have this stuff going on with Akeem, I'm kind of worried about it, I've told him I'm straight but I'm not sure that's enough" he smiled nervously

"What are you thinking of doing about it?" he asked

"I'm not sure I mean I've nothing against people, who's life dictates that for them, its natural, but I have no intention of that being part of my life unless like you guys some of my best friends are that way and even then it's not going to be about their sexuality is it?"

"No Son it's about friendships"

"I don't even know what I want Akeem to be right now, yesterday I told him we could maybe breath the same air I didn't like his actions in regards to meeting you guys"

"Everyone's entitled to a shock reaction son, if he decides to talk about it at least listen, be the bigger person and stuff"

"I'll try" he smiled at his Dad saying

"Don't be nasty about it, just tell him you like girls and if he wants you can be friends but you'll never be anything else and if he can't cope with that then you guys will have to part company" Sam smiled "He might turn out to be one of your best friends"

"Okay I can do that" he said considering the information his Dad had given him "Nap's another kettle of fish, I'm really scared this has changed who we are to each other, I mean she blocked me out Dad, I've never felt so alone in all my life, and there was me thinking she needed me" he laughed

"I think you'll find we all need each other son that's called a family" Sam laughed

"I know but you know what I mean" he nudged his Dad saying as he got up

"Grab some bacon sandwiches for you guys" he told him

"Yeah, I got to go Nap's let me back in again" he said rubbing the back of his neck before clapping his hands together excitedly, grabbing the sandwiches and leaving the room

 **Joseph & Naphtali**

"Nappi" he said surprised as he walked into his bedroom "Why you sitting here on your own?"

"Waiting for you"

"What's up?" he asked falling onto his bed next to her

"I'm sorry Jo I think I hated you for a while and I needed you at the same time and I just didn't know how to deal with it and I ran, sorry for blocking you out" she said as tears fell down her face

"Don't sweat it Nap, Dad explained us to me while you were away I get it, unless your a lesbian I don't expect that to happen again" he laughed "And you know this love we have going on here is like unconditional yeah?"

"Unconditional?" she asked "I'd prepared a song just in case this was harder but I'm going to play it anyway" she laughed putting one end of her headphone in his ear and finding the tune "Edited version of course if they ask" she told him as the music blasted out and they hummed and acted out the first verse singing the last line to each other

 **'Don't Leave' by Snakehips & MA**

 _You know me, n_ _ow and then, I'm a mess, p_ _lease don't hold that against me,_ _I'm a girl with a temper and heat,_ _I know I can be crazy_

 _But I'm not just a fuck-up, I'm the fuck-up you love,_ _I don't hear nobody when you focus on me,_ _Perfectly imperfect, yeah, I hope that you see_  
 _Tell me you see,_ _'cause I know that you've been thinking 'bout me_

 _Don't leave, s_ _hut your mind off and let your heart breathe, y_ _ou don't need to be worried,_ _I may not ever get my shit together_  
 _But ain't nobody gonna love you better, d_ _on't go, w_ _hat we have here is irreplaceable, n_ _o, I won't trade this for nothing_  
 _I may not ever get my shit together, b_ _ut **Jo:** ain't nobody gonna love you better than me, yeah, **Nappi:** or l_ _ove you better than me_

"That's it" she said pulling the plug out his ears after the first verse "The rest is like for lovers and stuff, so wrong" she laughed

"Absolutely" he laughed "But you're still my sister and I'm going to love you whatever happens, just like Mom and Dad love us"

"I love you Mouth"

"Ditto Adidas" he smiled "Dad said we need to eat" he told her handing her the sandwich "We were thinking of going to church what do yo think?" he asked with his mouth full of sandwich

"I got something to say to those Christians" she said lifting her eyes to the heavens in thought

"Let's go to war" Jo laughed as they finished their food and went to get ready

 **Sam & Mercy**

"She's fine" Mercy walked into the room saying anticipating Sam's question "A bruised ego but fine, she thought she was the only girl to ever fall in love with a gay guy" she laughed

"Kurt's not going to be happy with you letting that out the bag" he smiled at her

"Kurt loves me, us he'll see why we needed to do that" she laughed "Are you alright babe?"

"I'm fine our babies are safe and my love is right here by my side" he smiled kissing her forehead

"I love you babe, never letting go" she smiled

"I feel one of our songs coming on" he laughed his beg eyes out "Please babe, I'm in that mood and your voice would just make me alright for now"

"Well if you ask like that" she said wiggling her eyebrows making him laugh "I don't like leaving you hanging" she smiled **"Never let Go' by Anthony Hamilton & Keri Hilson** what do you say?"

"Lets do this" he said going over to find the song in their list and flicking it on as he started singing and Mercy joined in "That will tide me over but tonight I'm never letting go" he told her when they finished the song

"Never" she said as she grabbed hold of his lips "What's up babe?" she asked when she felt him pull away from her

"I ... I just think, never mind" he said shaking the thought out of his head

"Talk to me babe" she said pulling his face round to face her again

"Mercy did we do the right thing bringing our whole life here?" he asked as she moved away from him and sat on the piano stool looking at sheet music

"Why are you asking that, because of these bigots?" she asked her voice level

"It's affecting the children now and I know that's not something we want, I just, I don't know, maybe round table later"

"Maybe" she smiled getting up "I need a hug" she said walking over to his open arms "I love you Sam Evans, you're my rock" she looked up at his saying

"You're mine" he replied taking her lips again and urgency took over as they both melted into each other "God that's been a while" he remarked when he finally let her up

"You calling neglect?"

"No I'm calling lets get our house in order so we can get some orders going on up in here" he laughed touching where he was talking about

"What do you suggest?" she asked wiggling her eyebrows

"Church for starters get that cleansing thing going on, it's a start"

"I fear Jo and Nappi will take it out on the congregation if they get the chance" she laughed

"We won't give them the chance then will we?"

"I guess not" Mercy replied dragging him off to the bedroom to get dressed for Church

 **Church**

"Grab something" she told everyone as they came into the main room dressed for church, grabbing pies and tissues, knowing it would be hours before they ate again "We look fine" Mercy finally said hugging into Sam as they stood ready to leave for Church, in the car Mercy had something to say

"Guys some real talk now" she looked at Sam saying "We know you guy are facing this racism stuff going on here, just like us, and yes one of the options is to grab everything and run back home because it's easier and that is home after all but, I think we're stronger than that and I'm hoping we choose to fight but we need to make informed decisions here, so after church we'll talk okay" she said as Sam grabbed her hand

"We'll go with whatever the majority says" he assured them, a short while later they were sitting outside the church "Lets do this" Sam said opening the door and getting Mercy out while Jo done the same on the other side for Nappi

As they expected some frowned while some smiled, they found seats up front with Mercy as the choir always sat up front and sat looking at the congregation as Men nodded at Sam, and he nodded back, and women stared at the family obviously bursting to ask a question. Church started as usual with praise and worship, then silent time followed by Congregational greetings, some made a b-line for Sam, introducing wives, husbands children and other family members "Mr Evans" Mrs Gee from the choir went up to Sam saying, as he stood to greet her "I'm Mrs Graham, my husband wor..."

"Oh yes" Sam smiled "Mrs Graham, I remember, nice to see you again" he smiled hugging her to his side as Mercy looked on, her face not impressed with the looks and hugs Sam was getting

"Either they or some family member works for me somewhere within the building" he told her when he got the chance, smiling at her 'snap a bitch' face, he loved her jealous

"And that merits a hug?" she asked cutting her eye at him as if it was his fault

"Come on babe, I'm not going to be rude for no reason" he replied laughing inside

"And you can stop that" she said flicking her hair over her shoulder as she turned away from him

"Hey" he called making her turn to check what he wanted "I love you Mrs Evans" he smiled

"I love you back Mr Evans" she replied giving that smile that took over the whole of her face

They quickly settled back down and at some point their family became the topic of the sermon, the choir were up singing their version of **'Back to You' by Mary Mary** with Mercy and Nappi singing lead on the song, as they ended Nappi stepped forward

"May I?" she asked the Minister who nodded a yes, she seemed to have decided to carry on regardless of his approval "I've been in this country for 8 weeks" she said looking around 'with a don't mess with me' face on "And I'd like to have good things to say about the people here but to date I've been told that I can't exist, I'm wrong and even unlovable, so I want to ask you people, where do I fit?" she asked looking around for someone to respond, but when no one did she carried on "My Mom's black and she loves me unconditionally, My Dad's white and you know what? He loves me unconditionally, my brother is my twin my other half and he loves me unconditionally, so tell me, because the way you guys carry on I have to believe you have the answer" she giggled but not in a funny way

Sam sat looking at his daughter, she'd grown up over night, whatever she'd encountered she'd learned from it and for him that needed no punishment just love, Mercy sat holding her heart totally overwhelmed at her daughter's courage she'd found who she was right there in front of their eyes a tear rolled down her face, for witnessing the beginning of womanhood

"Who am I supposed to be and who would I be without my family?" Nappi asked waiting again for anyone in the congregation to give her an answer "That's what I thought" she said "I can only be me, I can't be one or the other" she laughed hoping everyone understood her speech "I have a song in my heart to share with you guys and no it's not just about the colour of anyone's skin" she said signalling for her Mom to go play the piano "It's about each and every spirit in here" she said as the music started "Because everyone needs someone, and you guys are learning me how much I need my family" she said before she started singing her rendition of **'One Wing' by Jordin Sparks** her Mom joined in and eventually the choir joined in while the congregation rocked somehow understanding Nappi's reasoning as Jo stepped forward and grabbed her hand

"I'd like the chance to say something" Jo stepped forward saying as his parents looked at each other noting his 'Avatar' look

"Sam you need to close this boy down" Mercy whispered to him, Nappi was always a voice of reason but Jo just told it how he felt it, they didn't expect swearing but he wouldn't be too far from it the way he was feeling, before Sam could react he'd started talking again and Sam looked at Mercy telling her let it be

"Not many of you know this but we were up all night Mom, Dad and I worried about Nappi, she ran off something to do with all the stress of this who we are stuff along with other things but for a whole night I got to feel how it must feel to lose someone you love, and to be honest I just want to appreciate my sister right now, and believe me that's nothing to do with colour its to do with love as she said unconditional love" he said looking at his Mom smiling

Mercy knew that look it was about to go down, she grabbed hold of Sam's hand and squeezed it "And for those of you that think it, I'd just like to assure you we're not wrong, I asked all four of my Grandparents, who are God fearing people, how to deal with this unwelcoming battle we've found ourselves in and they directed me to 3 John 1:4 - I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" he smiled "I read it while they listened and I questioned their answer" he said looking at his parents "They told us we were our parents truth and anyone that didn't agree with that needed to go read 7 Matthew 1:5" he smiled walking away from the mic into his Dad's arms, Nappi was already in her Mom's

"And just in case you don't know that off by heart 7 Matthew 1:5 says You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye" Sam said before he sat down

"Have you guys finished now Mrs Evans?" the Minister asked looking at Mercy a bit longer than Sam liked as Jo and his eyes met Jo's saying _'I told you so'_ Sam's saying _'You're right I just saw it'_ both sets of eyes met back at the alter ready for Mr Frazer

Church ended soon after that and as they made to leave Akeem and Ola came up to them "Jo, Nappi can we have a word?" Ola asked as Sam and his family stood looking on

"Yeah" Nappi said, Jo was never going to agree to it not knowing how she felt Mercy and Sam stepped to the side to let them talk immediately approached by Mr Ravi

 **The Parents**

"Mr & Mrs Evans" Mr Ravi said looking directly at them this time "Would you mind, could we possibly have a word?" he asked

Sam was all for walking away, he grabbed Mercy's hand before he remembered the conversation with Jo and quickly changed his mind "Yes Mr Ravi you can" he said smiling too

"We'd, well I'd like to sincerely apologise to you for my behaviour yesterday, I'm always telling my children to be who they are encouraging Akeem to bite the bullet and come out, which he did the other day and then I go right ahead and do exactly what I've been asking him not to be afraid of all his life and I judge you guys, I'm so sorry and I hope you can forgive me"

"Well..." Sam started to say but Mr Ravi carried on

"Mr & Mrs Evans" he said "I'm deeply ashamed of my actions yesterday, call it ignorance, bad manners and utterly unacceptable. I'd like us to start again but I understand if you don't see that right now" he said offering his hand

"As I was saying" Sam said grabbing his hand "I really want to thank you for your help in getting Nappi back to us this morning, yesterday at the concert I'd have gladly stood up and said there was no community spirit shown to outsiders but today I eat my hat" he laughed as Mr Ravi laughed with him"We might have another two years left here I don't need enemies Mr Ravi" Sam said as their attention turned back to the children talking

"They're fine" Mr Ravi said "My name is Assad and this is Annya my wife" he said looking at his wife smiling

"Hello Annya" Sam said as he shook her hand and Mercy followed "I'm Sam and this is my wife Mercy" he added already hugging Mercy before he spoke

"Akeem hasn't made many real friends with him being gay and everything, I think he misread Jo's good heart and I'm hoping he can fix this, tell the truth there aren't many boys that have their sisters under wraps like these two have so I understand, the values you guys have instilled are much like our" he smiled

Sam looked at Mercy his impressed face on, a man after his own heart he smirked "Totally" he said smiling at Assad "You should come and have a look at Try-Bet some time" he said rubbing his hands together like he'd found himself an ally

 **The Children**

"I guess I need to talk to Nappi first" Akeem said as he and Ola stood looking at Nappi and Jo all with sad faces "Nappi I'm truly sorry for leading you on I knew you liked me and I selfishly made you think that was possible so that I could see Jo every day and that was wrong, I'm so ashamed of myself and my behaviour and I only hope one day you'll see me in a different light"

"We need to move away from here" Nappi said looking around at the congregation standing outside

"She's going to get her shout on" Jo told them as they walked across the grassed area towards to sheds on the far side of the church grounds

"Right" she said spinning round with hands on hip looking at Ola "Lets hear it"

"I did it because Akeem asked me to" Ola told her looking at Akeem

"She's telling the truth" he came back with as Ola looked at him twice for giving in so easily, he usually blamed her for everything that's why she got in first on this "And I've got nothing to say except sorry for everything" he looked at Jo saying "I guess I saw some signs that weren't even there or maybe built everything up in my head about you and well..." he looked at Nappi to say "I used your friendship and your talent for my own gains"

"I'm not even interested in what you thought or even your logic in thinking it" Nappi put her hand up in his face saying physically telling him to stop talking "I ran away from my family last night and as much pain as I thought I was in about you having feelings for Jo instead of me, it was in no way to be compared with the way I felt when I realised I was away from my family. Luckily for me Akeem I found out you're not the one for me, so no love lost" she said diverting her attention from Akeem to Ola "I have a brother that has just as much hold over me so I understand you loving him that much to do stuff like that for him, but Ola lies?" she asked

"He asked me to" She replied

"How can your relationship have any foundation if it's built on lies, you actually asking your sister to lie for you" she said looking at Akeem "And you actually lying for him that's not healthy" she dropped her hand from her hip in disappointment saying "Holding secrets yes to the grave but lying" she finished as Akeem looked at Ola

"I'm sorry I asked you to do that for me Ola" he said genuine sorry in his voice "And seriously I'm sorry you guys" he said looking between Nappi and Jo

"Anything you need to say Jo?" Nappi asked him as he stood just a fraction behind her

"No" he smiled at her "Except to confirm for Akeem that I'm not gay I think you said it all Nap" he said kissing her cheek "And very nicely too" he said proudly

"So we... we can still be friends then?" Ola asked

"If we promise never to lie to each other or for each other again" Akeem added

"For you guys" Jo said looking at a smiling Nappi "We can do that" he laughed as Nappi let her phone play a tune and started singing her version and everyone soon joined in

 _ **"Friends" by Meghan Trainor  
**_

 _ **All**_ _I know we about to have a good time, c_ _ause I got all my friends with me,_ _I know everything's gonna be fine, c_ _ause I got all my friends with me_

 **Nappi**  
 _When I'm in trouble, need some help, a_ _nd I feel all by myself, k_ _now exactly who to call,_ _I know to make it all right,_ _I got all my friends with me_

 ** _Nappi & Ola_**

 _And after all my money's spent, a_ _nd I can't afford my rent, t_ _hey walk me in the house, s_ _aying, "You can take the couch," yeah, t_ _hat's the only friends I need_

 **Pre Chorus: All**  
 _And everybody say, ooohhh n_ _o one understands me, n_ _o one understands me, l_ _ike they do, like they do_  
 _ooohhh No one's gonna love me, n_ _o one's gonna love me, l_ _ike they do, like they do_

 **Chorus: All**  
 _I know we about to have a good time, c_ _ause I got all my friends with me,_ _I know everything's gonna be fine, c_ _ause I got all my friends with me_

 **Jo**  
 _When I got my broken heart, a_ _nd my world was torn apart,_ _I was drowning in my tears, t_ _hey showed me they were right here,_ _I had all my friends with me_

 _ **Jo & Akeem** _

_And I push them all away, c_ _ause I make my dumb mistakes, t_ _hey forgive me anyway, a_ _nd that's the only friends I need_

 ** _Pre Chorus x1_**

 ** _Chorus x 2_**

"I feel like I just made a friend for life" Akeem said when they finished singing

"I agree" Nappi said as they had a group hug and started walking back towards the church, Jo searching for his parents and found his Dad just as he saw him step off in the direction of the Minister

 **Sam**

"Excuse me" he said moving off to make his way over to the Minister, having just seen his window of opportunity. Mercy watched his line of movement and clocked him before he got there, she was busy making small talk with Annya, but found time to put a _'Love his jealous'_ look on her face

"Mr Frazer" he said holding his hand out for shaking as he approached

"Mr Evans" he said grabbing Sam's hand

"Loved your sermon today" he said still giving his firm handshake "Didn't like the way you ogles my wife though" he added as the Minister's smile disappeared

"What?"

"You ogling my wife, stop it" Sam said letting his hand go "Nice chatting to you" he said, turned and walked away as the Minister watched him

"You better stop or I'll do an exposure on your ass" Jo crept up behind him saying

"Jo" Sam shouted from the car, watching him run over to join the family, in the car the conversation was one of excitement as everyone exchanged their stories of apologies and forgiveness and Sam asked his usual question about lessons learned "We'll just get a take out for lunch today is that alright love?" he asked Mercy as they got near their home

"That's fine I was going to have to start from scratch anyway" she told him

He jumped out the car at the shops and everyone else carried on home, when he got there he was laden with one of nearly everything in the shop as they tucked into their traditional Kenyan eateries

 **Home**

"Right" Sam said once they'd finished lunch and cleaned up "Round table" he announced as everyone moved towards the dining area again "Be honest guys what do you think about living here is this really something we're going to be able to sustain for two years or do we need to rethink?" he asked

"Dad we had all this before we got here" Nappi whined

"Yeah but this is real in your face stuff guys, it can have psychological effects" Sam said

"Really?" Jo asked with his Mom's _'are you for real?'_ eyes on his Dad making him laugh

"We just want to say again we're so proud of you guys for what you did in church today, we could have burst" Mercy said grabbing Sam's hand and squeezing it as her voice broke

"So is this a short round table then?" Sam asked when he fell out of Mercy's watery eyes

"I'm staying" Jo said

"Me too" Nappi smiled at him saying as she spoke

"Mercy?" Sam asked

"I say **'Breathing Underwater' by Emeli Sande** " she said getting up to set the player up, "I was going to sing this at church today, but Nappi's song said everything and I didn't want them to forget that message" she told them before carrying on to say "And in all honesty it would have had a completely different meaning for me then, because when we got to church this morning, after the night we'd had along with the revelations from the concert, I just didn't want my babies hurt anymore. But with this new found strength we've gained from our adventure, should I call it" she laughed "I guess I can learn to breath under this murky water we've found ourselves in, you guys give me that strength, so here goes" she said as the music started and she found her seat to start singing before everyone joined in, sitting round the table holding hands

"So what do you say Mercy?" Sam looked at her asking when they finished

"I guess we've all learned to survive in this particular jungle, Nappi's right we talked this to death before we got here and we're not quitters, we've never cared what people think about us because we know who we are, and to be frank they need to wake up and smell the you know what coffee" she said curbing her swears "Because we're not going anywhere, by the time we leave here our family type will be the norm, watch this space" they all laughed

"You're so wise" Sam said stroking her arm as he looked at her

"Yeah right" Jo said spoiling the mood "We're out" he said walking away laughing "Goodnight Clan" he said as Nappi gave them each a kiss

"And then there was two" Mercy smiled grabbing Sam's T-shirt neck and pulling him to her "What was that?" she pulled back from him asking "Navi for bedroom?"

"I didn't say anything"

"Seriously" she laughed "protest is worrying" she said making him laugh as he got up and pulled her up with him

"Never letting go remember?" he said as they made their way to their bedroom

'You hearing that vocal training going on right now' Nappi sapped Jo some time later

'Earplugs now' he replied with a smily face 'Yep'

'Our world is as it should be' she sapped before finding sleep

 **1 month and 5 days later**

"Guys have you got everything organised for this so called party?" Sam asked as Jo ran through the living room for the twentieth time that day

"Saturday is going to be lift off Dad trust me" he replied

"Lift off" Nappi ran behind him saying "But could we tap into the party fund just one more time please?" she asked giving him her puppy eyes as Mercy stood by laughing inside at her playing her Dad like that as he took his wallet out to hand her the money

"Errr no questions?" Mercy asked

"No" he smiled "It's their birthday party money and when it ends that's it, if they want to waste it, their bad"

"They've got like two days left to plan and how much left?" she asked him knowing she wasn't going to get an answer but she thought she'd try anyway

"It's nearly done love" he smiled at her

"There is no end is there?" she laughed looking at him "And you know what not to do here"

"It's their 16th Mercy" he broke saying "You only gave me two babies" he added with his puppy eyes

Mercy could do nothing but laugh "Do they know this is a never ending fountain of funds?" she asked as he just looked at her "What lessons are they learning from having everything they want Sam?"

"They're not getting everything, I mean I said no to the fair"

"Only because the guard told you it wouldn't be allowed within the damn gates come on Sam"

"Technically it's their money" he said in his defence

"If you want to get technical it's our money and I say no more" she told him "This is the last lot and no more" she said getting up and finding the kitchen her favourite place for peace, leaving a vexed Sam sitting in the living room. Truth be told he'd already spent an obscene amount of money on the twins for their birthdays, he'd made allowances for all the presents they weren't going to get from family at home, thought they needed cheering up after all that settling in stuff that happened and Mercy was due away in 4 weeks time and he'd over compensated more than over but he only had them, and for what they'd given up for him to have this part of his dream, he'd allow them anything.

"Stop with the guilt trip husband" she shouted through "Hello" she said picking up the phone on the first ring as she spoke "This is she" she answered not rolling her eyes as she didn't recognise the voice

"Hi Mercy it's Megan from Try-Bet" the voice came back at her saying

"Hi Megan, how can I help you?" she asked already pissed off at this bitch and her persistence

"Mercy" she said like she'd been given permission to use her name like that "I'm calling because it seems Sam's never going to do it and I don't see why I should wait any longer" she told her

"Right" Mercy said praying that this bitch was taking this where she needed it to go

"We've connected in the biggest way and he really wants to be with me, he told me he's fallen out of love with you and I guess I'm calling to say let him go"

"I see" Mercy replied, her brain in overdrive "I think we both know that this is over so I guess you can come get him and his things in about... an hour?" Mercy asked

"You agree?" Megan asked surprised

"Yeah we finished a while ago, it's mainly about the children right now" Mercy told her "No hard feelings Megan" she said letting the phone go, not bothered if it had hit it's home or not, she banged about with vengeance in her heart for about twenty minutes before she decided she was bigger than that, she'd just asked her daughter to be bigger than that and she needed to make a different move on this thing "Sam" she shouted when she saw time creeping up

"What's up?" he appeared at the kitchen door asking concern in his voice

"I just need you to go to get something for me from Annya, sorry I just need it and I didn't think you'd want me out at this time of the evening" she eyed him asking "I would have waited until tomorrow but it's important babe, please?" she walked up to him asking

"Will she know what I'm there for?" he asked with a smile

"Yeah she will" she smiled "Take the children with you they could do with some time out" she turned her back to say already aware he was thinking something was up and if he found her eyes she'd have to tell

"Okay 10 minutes yeah?"

"Yeah" she said smiling inside

Ten minutes later Sam was in the kitchen getting his kisses ready to make the journey for Mercy's things "What did you say it was?" he asked as she turned back to the sink

"Its a surprise" she told him "Go on and hurry up back" she picked up another plate saying "Right" she told herself when she heard the car drive off 50 minutes and one bitch she said to herself taking off her apron and throwing it on the table as she left the kitchen "Ready for mad Megan" she told herself and 5 minutes later the door bell rang "Megan" she opened the door saying "Come on in" she stood aside saying as Megan walked in smiling

"Mercy" she said as she stepped in

"Through to the living room please" Mercy guided her following her as she pointed "Now" she said once Megan had seen fit to throw herself down on her couch, and she found herself sitting on Sam's couch "You want Sam?" Mercy asked for clarification

"Yes" she said smiling

"So how much?"

"What do you mean?" she asked

"How much are you willing to pay" she rolled her eyes saying "Please let this be worth my while" she added letting out some frustration air

"I didn't know you wanted money"

"Of course I want fucking money" she stood up shouting "How much?" she asked again "You're going to have to buy him out and then make me a serious offer on top" she told her

"How much is he in for?" Megan asked _'This bitch is so fucking stupid'_ Mercy looked at her thinking

"You guys didn't have this conversation?" she put her hands on her hips asking

"No"

"That's a big turn on talk for him, how come you haven't talked money" she asked "Maybe that shit only works with me" she looked in the air as if she was thinking saying "So how much, give me a fair price and he'll be down"

"I don't know where can we start from?"

"Say 4 million" Mercy told her, smiling for the choke she was trying to hide very badly

"I don't have 4 Mill..." she tapered off as the door opened to reveal Sam and the children

"Hi Babe, you got back quick" Mercy smiled as Sam looked around the room, she could see he was not amused

"What's going on Mercy" he asked looking between Megan and her "And what are you doing in my family home?"

"Oh Megan's here just doing something you don't have the balls to do, and we were just negotiating a deal so far she's stuck at giving me 4 Million for you" Mercy said

"4 Million?" Sam asked lifting his eyebrow as he walked towards Mercy "Is that it 4 Million?"

"A steal" she smiled as he grabbed hold of her "I didn't think she could manage much more" she laughed

"Okay Megan" Sam turned to her saying as she jumped for the sudden attention "I love my wife, I've told you that on many occasions, you've come to my home harassing me and my family and you've lied to my wife about a fictional relationship I'm guessing" he looked at Mercy asking as he talked, she confirmed it by nodding "So I guess that just leaves for me to say, your fired" he told her "Now get out" he shouted as she jumped up and left

"I knew you knew something was going down I don't hide things very well from you" she smiled

"I called Annya and she had no clue what you were on about" he laughed "Jo said something was up and we just spun round"

"I'm just pleased the bitch has finally worked herself out of Try-Bet" she laughed "Gross misconduct" she said doing one of Sam's classic air fist punches, making him laugh

"That's not usually a nice thing to do but I must admit" he said doing an air fist punch himself "But seriously babe she could have been Alex Forrest, without the sex, for all we know don't do that again"

"Just let me gloat a while longer"

"As long as we do that in bed" he smiled

"What?" she asked puzzled

"That Betty Boop thing you just done"

"What Betty Boop thing?"

"That classic kiss my ass shot you just gave me" he laughed

"Stop" she laughed "I didn't even have my ass up in the air" she said through her giggle

"You just gave the face everything else flashed before me and I'm ready for that plus you need to be saying sorry big time for misleading me just" Mercy didn't even argue she just told the children to help themselves to food and followed her man "That's it I win?" he asked

"I always win, you know that" she smiled

 **Happy Birthday**

"Happy Birthday" Sam and Mercy ran through the house banging pots together shouting as Nappi and Jo jumped out of their sleep and ran to their doors

"What's up?" Jo asked rubbing his eyes

"It's your birthday" his Mom said grabbing hold of him and giving him a big kiss on his cheek

"Thanks" he said pulling away from her saying "I need to do my rituals first" he spun round saying and walked back into his room

Nappi put her hand up saying 'Don't' before her Dad got to her "Come on you two it's your birthday" Sam said let down by their lack of enthusiasm

"In a minute" Nappi waved saying "You know you can't surprise a woman I've got things to do to get presentable, notice I need notice"

"Did she say woman?" Sam asked Mercy as Nappi's bedroom door shut again

"I believe so" Mercy said a laugh in her voice for where Sam's head was going to be all day now

"And that didn't like, bother you even for a second?"

"Sam they're sixteen right of passage for all sorts of things now" Mercy smiled winding him up, while he was thinking on Nappi he might not stress about everything else going on around him

10 am and the house was busy the Church ladies were in making Sandwiches and putting up party games, making a sham of the event planners work, dismissing or changing things constantly

"Mrs Evans" Anton came up to her saying "Please you need to call the ladies off, they are supposed to be from God but they are making my life hell" he told her as Mercy moved them off the party preparation and got them to help with lunch

"We're making for about 40 people" She told Madge and the others as they looked around the kitchen "Some can work out on the veranda" she suggested, checking the space as everyone busied themselves with the task at hand, eating finger food when they'd finished. Nearing 2 pm it was time for everyone to get dressed to arrive for a prompt 3.30 pm start

"How do I look" Sam asked "Do I look like I have two sixteen year olds, do we look like we have two sixteen year olds?

"Yeah we do" Mercy smiled "And doing really well on seventeen years of married life Mr Evans" she told him "Is my butt still tight?" she asked swinging round for him to check

"I check that every night I don't need the visual that ass is tight" he walked up behind her saying giving her a kiss on the neck "These lips will find somewhere else on that tight ass later, I promise" he whispered in her ear, she loved when he did that _'They sure will Mr'_ she smile back at him thinking

The first guests turned up at 3.25 pm as the family stood on the steps of their home waiting to greet them, their new church family was never late for anything, the congregation seemed to flock in together, while the school friends came in bits but all within that first fifteen minutes not like back home where people were still showing up at midnight for a baby birthday party. The exclusive marquee was up fully catered for the sit down meal the children wanted having seen their parents have one for one of their anniversaries and thought it was very grown up, a virgin cocktail bar taking up the bottom left of the marquee, pink and blue décor with soft seating as well as dining facilities a glitter dancefloor near the front where the stage was waiting for the band to arrive later for the live show, garden games for those that wanted to play giant chess, bowling, water slides and the like. A photographer situated in the arch of the back patio doors for those that wanted to indulge. Dinner happened at 4 pm prompt and almost straight after there were some adult competitive games, the Dad's got all competitive about the three footed race and the woman about the best bow by 7 pm all the games were closing down and the entertainment was coming on.

The lights went down in the Marquee and the space was lit up by stars dangling from the make shift ceiling "Wow" everyone echoed around the room for the effect, suddenly there was drums playing alerting everyone to the live band coming on stage, Nappi and Jo looked at each other excited for their grand finale, they'd hired a local band who could sort of play, that knew some of their favourite songs and they were excited for the guests to appreciate their local players as well as their bad ass music choices.

"Who are they?" Nappy looked at the stage asking as some long haired, String vested men putting them in the mind of heavy metal stood on stage

"I don't know" Jo told her as they looked towards their parents

"Joseph and Naphtali you're 16 today, happy birthday to you each and here's your birthday present from your parents" the guy strumming the guitar said over the mic as they played the introduction for **'Free' by 6Lack** Jo and Nappi looked at each other before looking at their parents waiting for their guys to come out singing looking back on stage to see 6Lack actually standing there "What?" Jo asked as they both jumped out of their seats and rushed towards the stage as the song started "Thank you" Jo grabbed his Mom saying when the third song finished

"Next up guys I'm told we have a present from the Grandparents" The guitarist told them as they started playing **'Chained to the Rhythm' by Katy Perry** Nappi was off her friends joining her on the dance floor as they moved to the beat while Katy Perry sang to them

"Thank you" she said in the air to her grandparents when she'd finished their three songs

"You guessed it guys" The guitarist laughed saying "This one is from your blood Uncles and Aunt" he told them as Jo and Nappi jumped like the excited school children they were and the band started to play **'Use Me' by Future** Jo was in his elements singing along, rapping with his friends totally in the moment as he took in the fact that Future was actually on his lawn

"Thanks Fam" he shouted into the air before hugging Nappi "This is great" he shouted over the band noise

"Fantastic" she shouted back as they hugged again before going back to their group of friends

"This last lot is from the rest of your family, they said you know who they are" he laughed as he strummed out a few bars and the band joined in playing some unrecognisable tune, after about two minutes Future came back out and danced around for a while before the song changed and suddenly **Ariana Grande** was on stage with **Future** singing their tune **'Everyday'** but dancing clean as agreed. Ariana sung a few more songs before they guests clapped the whole show and the stage went quite

"Thank you" Jo and Nappi held hands saying looking up at the sky thinking about their family

"Just one last thing and that's to say again, happy Birth... No apparently we're going to sing happy birthday" he said as the lights came fully on "To Jo and Nappi" he said as the crowd cheered

"One, two, three" someone on stage said as everyone started singing

"Best Birthday ever" Nappi said when their parents came forward to hug them

The disco started and dancing went on into the night Sam and Mercy sat on the swinging couch on the veranda looking out at all the guests mingling, all in attendance for these wrong children, as they were know to be three months ago, proud for their achievements in this small town

"We've been here just 3 months" Sam said as they looked out "And look at this imagine what we can accomplish in two years"

"You sound like your planning on starting some sort of Pandora, what is this Eywa?" she laughed

"I'm definitely planning on making a difference, maybe world peace, I think we all are secretly" he said kissing her forehead as he giggled

A few hours later Jo and Nappi came to sit with them having said bye to the last of their guests "I'm so buzzed for my promise with a certain ass tonight" he smiled as they came towards them

"Hey" Jo said knocking fist with his Dad and kissing his Mom as Nappi just squeezed in between them "So love you guys for this it was, is great"

"I loved every minute of it" Nappi smiled saying

"It was all your Mom's work" Sam told them "You're so wise" he told her falling into her eyes

"Yeah right" Jo said spoiling the mood

"What?" Mercy asked him

"Nothing it's just what Dad just said, but didn't say" he chuckled

"What you don't think I'm wise?" she smiled asking

"You're wise old bird" Jo said shaking his head as he walked away to his bedroom "Goodnight Clan" he shouted back waving his hand above his head as he went "Nappi" he shouted as he opened the patio door

"Yeah I know" she said getting up to go to her room too "Goodnight parents" she said kissing them both "Goodnight mouth" she said as she walked through the door and past him

"I love you too Adidas" he laughed "Goodnight"

"And then there was two" Sam smiled

"Now that's wise" she laughed as they made their way to their bedroom

'Wait for it' Nappi sapped Jo a short while later

'They weren't doing that this night 16 years ago' he replied with a smiling face

"Yeah we were" Sam shouted "We're 8 hours ahead of America" he laughed

'Our world is as it should be' she sapped before finding sleep

The End


End file.
